Lawmakers conduct national audit site inspection at Jongmyo and Sewoon 4 zone

'Ad balloon did not obstruct Jongmyo view at all'

People Power Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, including Rep. Kim Seok-ki, inspect the main hall platform at Jongmyo Shrine in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, including Rep. Kim Seok-ki, inspect the main hall platform at Jongmyo Shrine in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on Thursday. [Yonhap]

People Power Party lawmakers on the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee visited Jongmyo Shrine on Thursday to denounce the Lee Jae Myung government for blocking the Sewoon 4 district redevelopment project.

After inspecting the Jongmyo and Sewoon 4 areas, the PPP committee members said the Cultural Heritage Administration's opposition under the Lee Jae Myung government had been exposed on the ground as "opposition for opposition's sake." The PPP members conducted their national audit site inspection separately from the Democratic Party of Korea.

The lawmakers said concerns about damage to Jongmyo's landscape from the Sewoon 4 redevelopment had been exaggerated. "The crux of the Jongmyo controversy is height," they said, noting that the Sewoon 4 zone is planned to reach 98.7 meters along Jongno and 141.9 meters along the Cheonggyecheon side. "These buildings are about 180 meters from the Jongmyo wall boundary and sit outside the 100-meter threshold for the historic and cultural environment preservation zone," they added.

After checking an ad balloon floated to the planned building height, the lawmakers said it "did not obstruct the Jongmyo view at all" — effectively rebutting landscape concerns raised by Cultural Heritage Administration chief Heo Min and former Prime Minister Kim Min-seok.

From Jongmyo, the lawmakers moved to the Taereung Country Club site, which the government is pushing to develop. They said the development site overlaps by as much as 13 percent with the preservation zone for Taereung and Gangneung, both UNESCO World Heritage sites, yet the project is being rushed through. "Is it a free pass when the Lee Jae Myung government pursues a project inside a preservation zone, but obstruction when Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's city government pursues one outside it?" they asked.

The lawmakers called on the Cultural Heritage Administration to immediately end its suspension of deliberations on heritage preservation measures for the Sewoon 4 zone and put the matter to a vote.


moon@heraldcorp.com