UNESCO’s International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) recommends inclusion of Namhansanseong Fortress on list

◇ Gyeonggi Province announced on April 29 that Namhansanseong Fortress is now one step closer to being added to the World Heritage List as the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, recommended in a recent evaluation report to UNSECO that the fortress be included on the list. ⓒ Gyeonggi G News

Gyeonggi Province announced on April 29 that Namhansanseong Fortress is now one step closer to being added to the World Heritage List as the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, recommended in a recent evaluation report to UNSECO that the fortress be included on the list. 

Accordingly, it is expected that Namhansanseong Fortress, for which Gyeonggi Province applied for UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2013, will be successfully included through a final decision to be made at the 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2014.

ICOMOS has determined that the fortress fulfills the UNESCO criteria of representing “an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design,” and is “an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history.”

Of particular note, the fact that it is a military legacy which refects a mutual exchange of urban planning and fortification architecture in East Asia, and that it is an exceptionally large mountain fortress including valleys with the integration of periodical layers of military architecture and defensive tactics using topography, won recognition for its value as World Heritage Site. Moreover, its superior condition based on an effective legal protection system and preservation policies as well as systematic on-site conservation also resulted in favorable reviews.

As an evaluating and advisory body of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, ICOMOS assesses the fulfillment of four requirements (outstanding universal value, completeness, authenticity, and preservation management system) through on-site inspection and application examination, and submits a final evaluation report to UNESCO after determining the possibility of listing.

Namhansanseong Fortress is only one step away from being listed as a World Heritage Site: approval is expected to be made at the 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. If UNESCO finalizes the recommendation made by ICOMOS, Korea will have a total of 11 World Heritage Sites, and Gyeonggi Province will be the local government that oversees two of the listed fortresses in Korea, including Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, which was listed in 1997.

In order to prepare for the possibility of successful designation as a World Heritage Site, Gyeonggi Province established a comprehensive development plan for the fortress back in February.

Additionally, the province has set up a series of goals for the five years following registration so as to establish a systematic preservation management system for the tangible and intangible assets of Namhansanseong Fortress according to the international standards stipulated by UNESCO. Moreover, it plans to strategically prepare for a significant increase in the number of visitors to the site by implementing a visitor management system, while also incorporating Namhansanseong Fortress, Suwon Hwaseong Fortress and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty into a cultural tour belt so as to create a global landmark of historical and cultural heritage assets.

ⓒGyeonggi G News | Lee Jun-gyun eyekle@hanmail.net 

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