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Seoul gov't criticizes Korea Heritage Service for not following World Heritage requirements for Jongmyo Shrine

Published: 14 Nov. 2025, 17:58

The redevelopment construction site of Jongmyo and Seun District 4 in Jongno District, central Seoul, as seen on Nov. 14 [NEWS1]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government criticized the Korea Heritage Service (KHS) on Friday, claiming it had failed to properly follow procedures for three decades regarding the Unesco World Heritage status of Jongmyo Shrine.

In its statement, the city explained that while places designated as World Heritage sites are required to have a core zone and a buffer zone, “Jongmyo Shrine has yet to have a buffer zone even 30 years after its [World Heritage] inscription.”

The KHS “has delayed designating a buffer zone, a baseline for [a World Heritage impact assessment], despite more than nine years of consultations with the city and 13 rounds of heritage reviews,” said the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

However, the KHS is “now demanding” the assessment, according to the city, “without having even finalized the full [legal] requirements for a World Heritage [site], which include both the core and buffer zones.”

The city concluded by saying that since the specific scope and methods for conducting the impact assessment remain underdeveloped, there is “no concrete legal or administrative basis for the evaluation to proceed.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]