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Experts urge heritage impact assessment for Jongmyo Shrine as tensions over development continue

Published: 25 Mar. 2026, 20:21

The Jongmyo Shrine is seen in central Seoul on Nov. 18, 2025. [YONHAP]

Heritage experts again called on the Seoul Metropolitan Government to assess the potential impact of a high-rise project near Jongmyo Shrine amid an ongoing dispute between local officials and heritage authorities over the development plan.

The Korean National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), a Unesco advisory body, said in a statement shared on its website Wednesday that the redevelopment plan in central Seoul “must not go ahead without a Heritage Impact Assessment.”

“Jongmyo is a World Heritage site representing the Republic of Korea, and its protection is not only a domestic task but also a promise to the international community,” the statement said, using the official name of Korea.

Jongmyo is where the ancestral tablets of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) kings and queens are enshrined.

Seoul plans to transform Sewoon District 4 located directly across the Unesco-listed shrine into a high-rise business and residential district with a massive green park. The area includes the obsolete Sewoon Arcade, Korea's oldest electronics market.

While city officials argue the redevelopment will revitalize the district through new green spaces, heritage officials contend the project could undermine the shrine's historic landscape.

Icomos Korea previously urged the city government in November of last year to suspend the project and accept a proposal to review the potential impact on the shrine jointly with the Korea Heritage Service (KHS) and expert groups.

By law, development projects are subject to mandatory heritage impact assessments if they fall within 100 meters (328 feet) of a state-designated cultural heritage site in the capital.

Seoul city authorities, however, have effectively rejected the proposal, noting that Sewoon District 4 sits about 180 meters away from the shrine's boundary.

Tensions have escalated in recent months, with the two sides remaining in a deadlock over whether to conduct the impact assessment and other points of contention.

Earlier this month, the KHS filed a police complaint against the project developer, Seoul Housing and Urban Development, for allegedly violating the Act on the Protection and Inspection of Buried Cultural Heritage. The agency accused the company of carrying out drilling work without its approval in parts of the redevelopment zone where an archaeological survey had not yet been officially completed.

The complaint came three months after a group of residents in the area sued the state and the heritage agency, seeking 16 billion won ($10.68 million) in damages caused by delays in the redevelopment project.

Yonhap