A drilling survey at the buried heritage excavation site in Sewoon Zone 4 [Cultural Heritage Administration]
A drilling survey at the buried heritage excavation site in Sewoon Zone 4 [Cultural Heritage Administration]

A preservation plan for Joseon-era relics unearthed at the Sewoon Zone 4 redevelopment site near Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul came up for review again after two years and seven months — only to be deferred once more. With the revised project implementation plan still unresolved, both the heritage preservation process and the redevelopment schedule face further delays.

The Cultural Heritage Administration said Thursday that the buried heritage subcommittee of the National Heritage Committee, at its fourth meeting held Wednesday at the Government Daejeon Complex, deferred a decision on the preservation plan for relics — designated sites A, B and C — submitted by the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) for the Sewoon Zone 4 urban environment improvement project site.

The National Heritage Committee said a re-review would be needed after the revised project implementation plan is finalized. SH, as the project operator, must now revise its submission to reflect the committee's feedback before resubmitting.

The preservation plan for the Sewoon Zone 4 relics was already deferred once at a January 2024 review, when the committee ruled that a more detailed plan needed to be submitted at a later date. The latest review, held roughly two years and seven months after that decision, again ended without a resolution on how to handle the relics.

Excavations carried out at the site between 2022 and 2024 uncovered Joseon-era remains including a gate structure, building foundations and drainage channels. The Cultural Heritage Administration had earlier said the site yielded numerous buried heritage assets of high academic value, including road and drainage systems that shed light on access routes to Jongmyo and other important structures.

Under the Act on the Protection and Investigation of Buried Cultural Heritage, buried heritage assets confirmed to have historical value through excavation must have an appropriate preservation plan in place. Construction at the site cannot proceed until the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration issues a completion-of-excavation order following a review by the National Heritage Committee.

Meanwhile, Sewoon Zone 4 has long been a flashpoint between the Cultural Heritage Administration and the Seoul Metropolitan Government over plans for high-rise redevelopment directly across from Jongmyo. When the two sides reached an agreement in 2018, the maximum building height was set at 71.9 meters based on the Cheonggyecheon frontage line. Last year, however, Seoul moved to raise the ceiling to as high as 145 meters — or 141.9 meters when a specific angular regulation is applied — triggering a clash over whether a Heritage Impact Assessment should be required.


terry@heraldcorp.com