Free trip to Korea ($2000) - If you teach once a week in Seoul about your home country and its Unesco World Heritage sites. I don't know how long the program last though (a month perhaps?)

Resumes are due Feb 19th!

http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20120215001343

D'oh a few months too late for me. But looks like a lovely opportunity.

Seems like it runs longer than I thought March (workshop and training) April - July (5-7 Saturday classes). The program also is offered in the Fall.


I was confused about the "travel expenses" and I think I mispoke in the last post about compensation. Nevertheless, all the information is at this link. A major highlight is the free cultural trip (on most accounts Jeju Island), this seems like the major perk. The program would be a fantastic opportunity if you are already based in Korea.

http://wch.mizy.net/bbs/Mboard.asp?Action=view&strBoardID=notice&intSeq=2421

New research in regards to the nomination "Korean Cretaceous Dinosaur Coast". South Korea is preping for another try on this nomination.

"The papers published by Ichnos are expected to contribute to supporting the government's effort to have fossil sites on the southern coast of Korea listed among the UNESCO's World Heritage natural resources. Five fossil sites in Korea, including two in Goseong, are listed in UNESCO's tentative list of word heritage sites."

http://view.koreaherald.com/kh/view.php?ud=20120613000722&cpv=0

As archived tentative lists are being discussed, it is interesting looking at trends in how countries approach world heritage.

South Korea nominated these (10) sites for it's first tentative list in 1994

Ch'angdokkung Palace - I
Chongmyo (shrine) - I
Hwasong Fortress - I
Kangjingun Kiln Sites - NI
Samnyon (Fortress) Wall - NI
Sokkuram Grotto (Stone Cave Temple) - I
Tomb of King Munyong - NI
Woodblocks of Tripitaka Koreana and Storage Halls - I
Mt. Hallasan Nature Reserve - I
Mt. Soraksan Nature Reserve - NI

Since 1994, Korea has updated the list every 4 years (minor changes or additions)

Korea acheived success in 6/10 of the original sites. Of the 5 nominations that were added during the minor update years of 1998, 2002, 2006 (4) were successfull. Gyeongju, Dolmens, Joseon Tombs, and Hahoe/Yangdong.

In late 2010 Korea began the completely new tentative list. Two 1994 nominations carried over, Seoraksan and Gangjin Kilns, and two other 1994 nominations (Tomb of King Munyong & Samnyeon Fortress) have been included in serial nominations on the new tentative list.

The current tentative list stands at (15). Ten of these nominations are entirely new, with no aspects previously nominated. The nomination process has continued during 2010 - 2012/3 following extensive research and preperation concerning new candidates for world heritage. There will likely be 1-3 more nominations coming soon.

Namhansanseong being submitted presently for inscription in 2014.

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130109000597

ah Nuts!

I skipped that one last year in favour of the World Cup stadium (great by the way, but only really if you are obsessive about football and/or Jjimjilbangs). Should it be inscribed it should provide a good reason to return I guess.

There is alot of activity in Korea concerning additional tentative sites. This may be somewhat suprising after the recent additions, which now total at 15 tentative properties.

There seems to be alot of interest in Korea's first potential "mixed" nomination.

*Jirisan National Park (May be added to tentative list in 2013 or early 2014 as a mixed property)

*Jeju Cultural Heritage (unclear potential nomination title) (Possible extenstion to include cultural properties within natural boundaries)

There are plenty of Korean language articles discussing these potential nominations. Other cultural properties are also being promoted, and feature in quite a few articles.

*Gaya Historic Sites (Mostly tombs from the small Gaya Federation)

*Buddhist Temples of Korea (Serial nomination of 7 buddhist temples)

1st of a series of articles highlighting the value and cultural merits of Seoul City Wall.

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130116000603

Continuation of the Korean Heralds "korean cultural pride" articles about sites on the Korean tentative list. If you are heading to Korea anytime soon, these articles give a informative summary of the value and importance of each nomination. A new article is published every week.

Seoul City Wall
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130116000603

Upo Wetland
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130130001085

Baekje Kingdom Complex
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130123000601

Namhansanseong Fortress
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130109000597

Seowon Confucian Academies
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20130206001022

Oeam Village
http://m.koreaherald.com/view.htm?20130227000962

Southwest Coast Tidal Flats
http://m.koreaherald.com/view.htm?20130220001040

Salterns
http://m.koreaherald.com/view.htm?20130213001057

Korea's planned nomination for 2017

Daegokcheon Stream Petroglyphs

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2970112

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/culturesports/2013/04/11/52/0701000000AEN201304110104 00315F.HTML

Potential additions to Korean Tentative List currently being evaluated by the Cultural Heritage Administration. (At least that I know of)

*Gaya Confederacy Historic Sites

*Buddhist Temples of Korea (7 components)

*Sacred Manisan Mountain - Chamseongdan Altar

*Yeongsan River Basin - Ancient Ruins of Naju

*Neolithic Sites of Korea: Amsa-dong and Osan-ri

*Jirisan National Park

*Doldam of Jeju Island

It is unclear when or if these additional nominations will be included on Korea's tentative list. All sites have been highlighted in (Korean) articles discussing world heritage promotion, potential inclusion on the world heritage list, and planned or current evaluation by the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Just wanted to say thanks for all the info on this thread.

At short notice I had a meeting with a team from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage.

So all the condensed highlights on this page enabled me to quickly get up to speed.

As it turns out it wasn't really of much use, but still good to know. They were on their 6th or 7th meeting of the day having trawled all across London, so I didn't really want to make them stay on and discuss their work on Baekje heritage or Kaesong.

But they were very friendly and we are very much enjoying the Mandarin Tea the gave us as a gift.

New announcement on potential world heritage sites in Seoul. An interesting selection, and completely unexpected.

Historical sites of Baekje Kingdom (Seoul)
- Baekje tombs south of the Han River (Bangi-dong & Seokchon-dong) & Earthen Fortress.

Jeong-dong: Old Legation Quarter URL URL URL

Deoksugung Palace

Dongmyo Shrine
- may include additional shrines/altars in Seoul

Yongsan-gu district (Former Headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army)
- Focus placed on Imperial Japanese structures and US Military buildings

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2013/11/316_146839.html

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20131125000830

I've been to all of them except Yongsan, because it is now a US Military Base. Though it will be vacated in the near future. Deoksugung is my second favorite palace in Seoul, behind Changdeokgung. It's importance is for very different reasons, however. I visited some of the areas in Jeong-dong, including both churches. Dongmyo is very interesting, but I visited on a rainy day and the structure was being restored, it was covered with scaffolding. So a return visit would be preferable.

My take, the Baekje sites in Seoul are way off the beaten path, and virtually unknown. I could only consider this as an extension to the Baekje Kingdom nomination that incorporates Gongju, Buyeo, and Iksan. There would be no purpose in a separate Seoul Baekje nomination.

To me it is unclear if Deoksugung Palace would be pursued independently from Jeong-dong district. In my estimation it would be a far stronger nomination to include the whole area as a nomination. The Old Legation quarter, along with Korea's early churches, and Deoksugung could make a case for world heritage inscription. Probably the strongest of these potential nominations. The Daehan Empire is a largely unrepresented part of Korean history (Gojong's tomb is part of the Joseon Royal Tombs), probably in part because of its shortened length and tragic history.

Dongmyo is interesting, and there are other shrine/altars to possibly include, but I just don't think there is enough to merit world heritage inscription.

I know little of Yongsan-gu, but this is perhaps the most interesting of all. So Korea may in fact nominate Japanese Colonial Buildings. If this indeed becomes a world heritage nomination included on the tentative list, there will inevitably be some very public debate in Korea about the merits of such a nomination.

***

Korea already has 15 Tentative nominations. Namhansanseong is the latest nomination that will be evaluated in 2014. However, with these recent revelations and the previously indicated sites throughout the country, there could be an additional 12 nominations placed on Korea's tentative list. Perhaps, this is a preliminary list (not quite finalized) and only the most feasible sites will be chosen. Realistically, there are maybe 2-3 of these sites that have a good chance of inscription.