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Unesco urges strong action over high-rise project near Jongmyo

Published: 17 Nov. 2025, 13:41 Updated: 17 Nov. 2025, 14:29

This image provided by the Korea Heritage Service on Nov. 17 shows a computer-generated simulation of the view above Jongmyo Shrine if a 145-meter-tall (476-foot-tall) building were constructed directly across from the site. [YONHAP]

Unesco has called on Korea to take strong action over a high-rise redevelopment project near Seoul's Jongmyo Shrine, a World Heritage site, warning that the construction could threaten the integrity of the historic complex, the nation's heritage chief said Monday.

Huh Min, head of the Korea Heritage Service (KHS), said the United Nations agency's World Heritage Center sent an official letter expressing concern over the city's plan to allow tall buildings in the Sewoon District 4 area, located directly across from the royal Confucian shrine.

Jongmyo is a sacred heritage site where the ancestral tablets of the royal family of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) are enshrined and carries symbolic significance as one of Korea's first Unesco World Heritage sites, designated in 1995.

"I recently received a message from Unesco calling for strong action," Huh told reporters at the National Palace Museum in central Seoul. "Unesco explicitly warned that the project could damage the surrounding landscape of Jongmyo and recommended that Seoul undergo a Heritage Impact Assessment."

The document, described as a "diplomatic and official communication," was delivered to the KHS through Korea's permanent delegation to Unesco on Saturday, he added. The World Heritage Center oversees administrative matters related to the protection of World Heritage sites.

According to Huh, Unesco advised that the Seoul metropolitan government's approval of the redevelopment project be suspended until the agency and its advisory bodies complete a positive review of the impact assessment.

Jongmyo’s Jeongjeon Hall is seen from the front on Nov. 13. [KIM JUNG-HUN]

The project has sparked a standoff between the central government and the Seoul metropolitan government over the city's decision to allow buildings up to 145 meters (476 feet) tall — more than twice the former height limit — in the redevelopment zone.

While the central government argues that such buildings would undermine the shrine's historical landscape, the city contends that the project would instead improve the surroundings by creating a broad green space.

During the briefing, the KHS also released computer simulations illustrating how 145-meter structures would appear from key viewpoints, including the shrine's main hall, Jeongjeon, its front gate and the sky above it.

Calling the evaluation process "an internationally recognized preservation mechanism under Unesco guidelines," Huh urged the local government, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the KHS to form a joint consultation body "as soon as possible" to address the issue.

Yonhap