Royal Tombs Nominated for World Heritage List

Photos courtesy of the Cultural Heritage Administration.

The Royal Tombs of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) was nominated to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea (CHA) announced Wednesday.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which along with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) presides over a tentative list of cultural and natural properties. The tombs scattered around Seoul and Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces await final approval at the 33rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which will take place June 22-30 in Seville, Spain.

``No site recommended by the ICOMOS has ever been turned down before,’’ Kim Hong-dong of the CHA International Affairs Division was quoted as saying in the Munwha Ilbo. If the Joseon royal tombs are approved, it will become South Korea’s ninth UNESCO-designated treasure.

The tombs comprise the mausoleums of 27 generations of Joseon kings, and queens, including those who were posthumously recognized, spanning over five centuries. Such an intact preservation of the royal tombs from a single dynasty is unheard of elsewhere in the world.

A total of 40 tombs among the 42 were submitted for candidacy _ the excluded two, Jaeneung and Huneung, are in North Korea. The ICOMOS is reported to have highly regarded the site’s unique architectural and landscape forms rooted in Confucian and geomantic traditions, as well as the fact that related funereal rituals from the times continue to this day, in the form of an intangible cultural heritage.

These tombs, called ``neung,’’ are part of altogether 119 tombs in the area, which include 13 ``won,’’ those that belonged to crown princes and princesses and the biological mothers of kings (i.e. mothered by a royal concubine), and ``myo,’’ which include those belonging to royal family members and overthrown kings such as Gwanghaegun and Yeonsangun.

Local sites registered by UNESCO include Jongmyo, Joseon’s Royal Ancestral Shrine, and the Joseon-era Changdeok Palace in Seoul. The Royal Tombs’ nomination suggests the heightened recognition of the late kingdom’s cultural value.

Other sites include: Seokguram-Bulguksa and Gyeongju Historic Areas in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province; Tripitaka Koreana at Haeinsa Temple in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang Province;Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province; Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites; and the volcanic Jeju Island and its lava tube.

If designated, the royal tombs will be subject to protection and oversight by the international community.

As of July, 2008, a total of 878 cultural and natural sites from 141 countries are registered in the list. Italy has 43 while China has 33.

In order to qualify as a World Heritage, a cultural site must possess all of the following (condensed) conditions: 1. Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; 2. Exhibit an important interchange of human values; 3. Bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or civilization; 4. Be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape; 5. Be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use or sea-use; and 6. Be directly or tangibly association with events or living traditions, etc.