The royal tomb of Joseon, which is registered as a UNESCO (UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site, is struggling with the construction of large-scale apartments around it.



According to the real estate industry today (20th), Daebang Construction, Daegwang Geonyeong, and Geumseong Baekjo, who are building apartments in Geomdan New Town, Seo-gu, Incheon, near Jangneung, Gimpo, have recently been accused of violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act by the Cultural Heritage Administration.



This is because, according to the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, to build a building with a height of 7 stories or more, 20m or more within a 500m radius of cultural properties, it has not received the Cultural Heritage Administration deliberation, which is mandatory.



Of the 44 apartment buildings and about 3,400 households built by these three construction companies in Geomdan New Town, 19 buildings included in the conservation area were ordered to stop construction.



The construction companies say that it is unfair that the Incheon Metropolitan City Corporation, the owner at the time of acquiring the land in 2014, received permission to change the status of the housing site development from Gimpo City, and started construction in 2019 after going through the landscape deliberation of the Incheon Seo-gu Office.



However, the Cultural Heritage Administration has also filed a complaint with the police for violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, saying that building an apartment must undergo separate deliberation by the Cultural Heritage Administration.



The Cultural Heritage Administration plans to conduct a re-deliberation next month based on proposals for improvement submitted by construction companies.



This is the first time that a building has been built near a royal tomb in violation of the permit procedure.



All of these complexes, which are scheduled to move in in June of next year, have been built over 20 stories, but in the worst case, they are facing an unprecedented situation where they may have to demolish the completed apartments.



Even if the worst case is avoided, damage to prospective tenants due to construction delays and design changes is inevitable.



Gimpo Jangneung is the tomb of King Seonjo's 5th son and father, Wonjong (1580-1619) and his wife, Queen Inheon (1578-1626), designated as Historic Site No. 202.



It is one of the 40 royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.



Under the Moon Jae-in administration, it has become more common to select large-scale apartment sites near the royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty for housing supply reasons.



In 2018, the government designated the area around Seooreung in Deokyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do as the Changneung New Town where 38,000 households will be built.



Seooreung is a collective term for five tombs: Changneung, Ikneung, Gyeongneung, Hongneung, and Myeongneung.



In addition, the government announced last year that it would build 10,000 apartments on the site of the Taereung Golf Course, but when faced with strong protests from residents, it changed the original plan after a year, saying that it would reduce the supply to 6,800 households last month.



Taereung and Gangneung, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are located right in front of Taereung Golf Course.



Residents of Seooreung and Tae-Gangneung protest that the construction of large-scale apartments near the cultural heritage could greatly damage the cultural landscape and natural environment.



There are also concerns that the tombs of the Joseon Dynasty may be deprived of their World Cultural Heritage status.



‘Citizens protecting the green Taereung’ (Cho Tae-si), made up of residents of Nowon-gu, sent a letter to UNESCO in September last year expressing concerns about the government’s development plan around Taereung.



In November of the same year, UNESCO replied, "We have forwarded the matter to the relevant Korean institutions (such as the Cultural Heritage Administration)," and said, "We are carefully looking at the matter together with international organizations related to this matter."



Cho Tae-si said, "When Tae-Gangneung was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, restoration of the surrounding original form, including the relocation of Taereung Athletes' Village, was a condition for registration. "It's absurd to build furniture," he pointed out.



Lee Eun-hyeong, senior researcher at the Korea Construction Policy Research Institute, said, "When the landscape around the royal tomb is filled with non-natural environments or buildings of non-preserved value, the value of the World Heritage Site will fade from then on. It is the epitome of myopic thinking that cannot see.”