"The heritage of Busan, the provisional capital during the Korean War, has sufficient merit, justification, and potential to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is because it represents a globally unprecedented heritage that embodies the values of human peace, based on international treaties such as the UN Charter, the UNESCO Constitution, and the Geneva Conventions."

Lee Jung-sun, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, emphasized the significance of the provisional capital Busan—her research focus and a cause she has championed for World Heritage inscription—during a lecture titled "Korea's World Heritage Activities," hosted by the Japan World Heritage Academy at the Tokyo National Museum of Modern Art auditorium on the 4th.

Busan is set to host the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) on the 19th, marking the first time this event will be held in South Korea.

Furthermore, the heritage sites in Busan from the provisional capital era of the Korean War are currently being pursued for World Heritage inscription. However, few people, even among Koreans, are aware of this.

Lee Jung-sun, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, introduces the Ami-dong tombstone village, where war refugees lived on top of a former Japanese cemetery, during the 'Korea's World Heritage Activities' lecture held in Tokyo on the 4th. [Yonhap News]

For 1,023 days, which constitutes the majority of the three-year Korean War, Busan served as the provisional capital in place of Seoul.

Heritage sites such as buildings that were urgently utilized through cooperation between the government, citizens, and the UN to maintain capital functions and protect refugees were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list in 2023 and selected for the priority list by the Korea Heritage Service in 2025; they are now awaiting application for a UNESCO preliminary evaluation.

These sites include not only the provisional capital government buildings, such as the Gyeongmudae (used as the presidential residence and office) and the former Central Government Building (currently the Dong-A University Museum), but also the Uam-dong residential area built by refugees in cattle sheds, and the Ami-dong tombstone village, where refugees resided on the site of a former Japanese cemetery.

As of July last year, the site consists of a total of 11 serial heritage properties, including Busan Port Pier 1, where refugees and UN forces arrived and international aid and relief supplies were delivered, and the UN Memorial Cemetery.

Professor Lee, who earned her Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo with a thesis titled "The UN Memorial Cemetery as a Site of Memory: The Cultural Heritage of War Cemeteries," is dedicating her efforts to the inscription of Busan as a provisional capital, balancing research and practical work across Korea, Japan, and the international community.

She is reportedly the first person, domestic or international, to receive a Ph.D. focusing exclusively on the UN Memorial Cemetery. Since earning her degree, she has acted as a bridge between the academic communities of Korea and Japan amidst a climate of significant differences in opinion and discord regarding world heritage.

She pointed out that even within Korea, there had been a skeptical view regarding whether the heritage of Busan as a provisional capital could truly be inscribed as a World Heritage site.

Professor Lee explained, "The current trend in UNESCO World Heritage inscription is focusing on sites with global values that are not limited to regional, national, or continental significance." She noted that the UN forces dispatched under Articles 39, 42, and 43 of the UN Charter are a symbol of true international solidarity, and the UN Memorial Cemetery stands as clear evidence of that singular international solidarity during the Cold War.

She elaborated on its great historical significance, noting that it was the only instance during the Korean War—a fierce conflict in the mid-20th century—where a provisional capital maintained state functions, contributing to the survival of the nation and its society, and that this is still honored today through commemorative services for UN veterans.

In particular, she noted that the task of conveying messages of reconciliation and peace left by war has recently emerged as a key topic in the academic study of world heritage.

The inscription of World War I funeral and memorial sites in the Flanders region of Belgium and the "Killing Fields" of Cambodia, where the infamous Khmer Rouge regime committed genocide in the 1970s, follows this same context.

Lee Jung-sun, a project assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, is dedicating her efforts to the inscription of Busan as a provisional capital, balancing research and practical work across Korea, Japan, and the international community. The photo shows Professor Lee during an interview with Yonhap News after the 'Korea's World Heritage Activities' lecture held in Tokyo on the 4th. [Yonhap News]

Professor Lee is a full member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Korea and possesses a unique background related to UNESCO World Heritage.

In Japan, there is a certification exam for UNESCO World Heritage known as the "World Heritage Proficiency Test."

Although UNESCO World Heritage sites are relevant not only to Japan but to the entire world, the certification exam that verifies knowledge and insight into these sites originated in Japan and is widely recognized there.

Professor Lee is the only non-Japanese person to have earned the "Meister" rank, the highest level of this exam, which consists entirely of handwritten essays.

"The World Heritage certification exam exists only in Japan, and a considerable number of Japanese citizens take the test," she said, pointing out that this systematic civic education and the expansion of the knowledge base serve as the foundation for Japan's successful, nationally-led World Heritage inscriptions.

She emphasized that for Busan's provisional capital sites to be inscribed as World Heritage, interdisciplinary research including cultural anthropology, religious studies, sociology, and architecture, as well as civic interest and, furthermore, joint research with Japan are necessary, adding that it is a matter through which Korea-Japan cooperation can send a message of peace.