Will Seoul’s Jongmyo have impact on high-rise redevelopment if designated as World Heritage District?

연합뉴스 / 2025-12-12 12:26:20

▲ This file photo taken on Nov. 11, 2025, shows Jongmyo Shrine and the Sewun District 4 redevelopment area located across from the shrine. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- A 194,000-square-meter area surrounding Jongmyo Shrine, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been designated a World Heritage District.

The move comes as debate intensifies over high-rise redevelopment in the Sewoon District 4 area across from the shrine, drawing attention to potential implications for future development projects.

According to the government gazette released on Friday, the Korea Heritage Service (KHS) designated 194,089.6 square meters around Jongmyo as a World Heritage District.

The announcement completes administrative procedures after the proposal passed Cultural Heritage Committee deliberations last month.

The KHS said the designation aims to “effectively preserve the outstanding universal value of Jongmyo, which is inscribed on the World Heritage List, and ensure systematic conservation, management and utilization.”

▲ This photo, taken on Nov. 18, 2025, shows the Sewun District 4 redevelopment area located directly across from the Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Under the Special Act on the Preservation, Management and Utilization of World Heritage, the KHS chief may designate such districts when necessary.

A World Heritage District consists of a core World Heritage zone and a surrounding buffer zone established to safeguard the property.

Projects that could negatively affect a site’s outstanding universal value are subject to a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) once the district is designated.

The assessment examines potential impacts and recommends measures to prevent, mitigate or eliminate negative effects.

The law also allows the KHS to request an HIA for projects outside the designated district if they are deemed certain to significantly affect the heritage site.

Sewoon District 4 is not included in Jongmyo’s World Heritage District.

However, the KHS previously said the designation would establish clear criteria for requesting impact assessments on projects that may affect the shrine—meaning the agency cannot immediately block construction of a 145-meter building but can ask Seoul City or developers to conduct an HIA.

The agency is also working to revise related laws and systems.

KHS Administrator Heo Min recently told reporters that consultations with the Land Ministry on revising the enforcement decree of the World Heritage Act are nearly complete, adding that the revision is expected to be promulgated by March after re-notification.

The new decree is expected to detail project types subject to assessment as well as evaluation criteria and procedures.

Separately, the agency is considering establishing legal grounds to intervene in projects outside historic-environment preservation zones when they pose serious risks to cultural heritage.

Heo said the KHS plans to enact a notice requiring KHS approval for large-scale construction or other activities harmful to the environment even outside designated zones.