'Capital Fortifications of Hanyang' Bids for UNESCO World Heritage Status... Selected as Official Candidate

Green Light After 'Passing' Preliminary Evaluation... Draft Application in September, Final Submission Early Next Year

"The Pinnacle of Capital Fortification Development on the Korean Peninsula"... Decision on Inscription Expected in 2027

Sukjeongmun Gate section of the Hanyang City Wall [Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government. Resale and DB prohibited]

(Seoul=) Reporter Kim Ye-na = The fortress ruins built to defend Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon Dynasty, are embarking on a bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Korea Heritage Service announced on the 1st that it has selected the 'Capital Fortifications of Hanyang' as its official candidate for UNESCO World Heritage inscription.

Selection as an official candidate is the final step in the domestic procedures required to apply for World Heritage status.

To submit an application to UNESCO, a site must go through several stages: the Tentative List, the Priority List, the Preliminary Evaluation, the Candidate for Nomination, and finally, the selection of the Official Nomination.

Baegaksan Mountain section of the Hanyang City Wall [Courtesy of Seo Heon-kang. Resale and DB prohibited]

The Capital Fortifications of Hanyang represent fortress ruins that encapsulate over 600 years of history.

The complex consists of the Hanyang City Wall, which served as the administrative center; Bukhansanseong Fortress, built for emergencies; and Tangchundaeseong Fortress, designed to protect storage facilities for refugees and long-term warfare.

It is highly valued for its organic structure, which connects "pogok-style" (valley-enclosing) fortresses that possess different functions. A pogok-style fortress is a fortification built along mountain ridges and hills that encompasses valleys within its perimeter.

In a UNESCO preliminary evaluation last year, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a consultative body, determined that the site has the potential to meet the requirements for 'Outstanding Universal Value' (OUV).

Tangchundaeseong Fortress walls [Yonhap News File Photo]

The Korea Heritage Service evaluated the site as "a heritage that demonstrates the tradition and creative inheritance of pogok-style fortress construction in Northeast Asia, representing the pinnacle of capital fortification development on the Korean Peninsula."

Previously, the Hanyang City Wall and Bukhansanseong Fortress had each pursued separate bids for World Heritage status.

The Hanyang City Wall was placed on the Tentative List in 2012, but its bid was withdrawn after the advisory body deemed it 'ineligible' for inscription during a 2017 review.

Bukhansanseong Fortress was rejected during a deliberation for the Tentative List by the Cultural Heritage Committee (now the Cultural Heritage Committee) in 2018.

Consequently, Seoul Metropolitan City, Gyeonggi Province, and Goyang City, following the recommendation of the Korea Heritage Service, have joined forces to promote the Hanyang City Wall, Bukhansanseong Fortress, and Tangchundaeseong Fortress as a single unified nomination.

Capital Fortifications of Hanyang, as depicted in the combined map of the city wall, Yeonyungdae, and Bukhansanseong in 'Jwahae Yeoji' (Records of the Eastern Sea), a colored manuscript atlas produced during the reigns of King Sunjo to King Cheoljong of the Joseon Dynasty. [Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service. Resale and DB prohibited] photo@yna.co.kr

The Korea Heritage Service plans to submit a draft of the nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre by September of this year, followed by the final submission in January of next year.

Following on-site inspections by advisory bodies, requests for additional information, and rigorous evaluations, a final decision on whether the site will be inscribed as a World Heritage site is expected at the 49th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2027.

An official from the Korea Heritage Service stated, "We will continue to cooperate with local governments and related institutions to ensure that the Capital Fortifications of Hanyang are successfully inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site."

South Korea currently holds a total of 17 World Heritage sites.

Starting with Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple, Tripitaka Koreana at Haeinsa Temple, and Jongmyo Shrine in 1995, the Petroglyphs of Banguchon in Ulsan were most recently added to the list. Yonhap News

[Graphic] List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in South Korea (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporters Park Young-seok, Kim Young-eun, Kim Min-ji = The Petroglyphs of Banguchon in Ulsan, which hold the breath of prehistoric people, became a UNESCO World Heritage site on the 12th.

With this, South Korea now holds a total of 17 World Heritage sites.