Busan to Host UNESCO World Heritage Committee With July Festivities

The Korea Heritage Service said Monday that it will operate the 13,254-square-meter "K-Heritage House," showcasing various exhibitions and hands-on content related to Korea's World Heritage, inside BEXCO during the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee session opening in Busan on July 19. The service will also run diverse side events across the Busan area, aiming to make the committee session a cultural festival that people from around the world can enjoy together.

The "K-Heritage House" at BEXCO (July 20-29), the centerpiece of the event, will feature 45 exhibition and hands-on booths with 35 institutions participating. Specifically, the "Korea and UNESCO" theme hall and nearby promotional space plan to widely inform the public about the value of Korea's 17 World Heritage sites, including "Hwaseong Fortress," "Namhansanseong," and "Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea," as well as heritage sites on the tentative list.

In addition, the "K-Heritage Promotion Hall" is designed to let visitors vividly experience national heritage and World Heritage visiting courses from across the country inside the venue through media art and immersive experiential content. At the "Heritage: Timeless Time" immersive media art exhibition hall, the beauty of Korean heritage will be conveyed grandly and realistically through a large media pole reaching 9 meters in height. The National Archives of Korea will highlight the excellence of Korea's documentary culture and reilluminate its cultural value through a special exhibition themed on Memory of the World heritage.

A promotional space where visitors can view at a glance the spiritual and cultural value of "Yeongsanjae," a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, will also be operated, along with various exhibition and promotional spaces such as the Busan city government's "Host City Busan Hall," which presents Busan's heritage and its character as a maritime capital.

Alongside these, spaces combining food and entertainment will be set up, offering opportunities to sample K-Seafood (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries), K-Traditional Markets (Ministry of SMEs and Startups), and K-Food (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs). A "K-Heritage Store," where visitors can directly purchase products blending traditional culture with a modern sensibility, will also operate on a permanent basis.

The event will take place not only at BEXCO but throughout Busan. At the Busan Cinema Center, the "Busan Travel Film Festival: Capturing World Heritage in Cinema" (July 18-19), a festival where visitors can encounter World Heritage sites in films under the theme of "travel," will be held. At the Shinsegae Department Store Centum City branch, the "Visiting Hanbok Shop Busan" (July 16-22) will operate, featuring a "hanbok pop-up store" with eight hanbok companies participating and traditional culture experiences such as accessory making.

In addition, rich cultural and artistic events will greet visitors, including the special exhibition "Records and Culture of Joseon, Passed Down for Generations" (July 7-August 30, Busan Museum), in which the National Palace Museum of Korea and the Busan Museum illuminate the historical significance of documentary culture through Korea's UNESCO Memory of the World heritage and royal heritage.

Varied events and performances showcasing the essence of Korean traditional culture are also worth watching. From July 20 to 29, the royal guards who protect Seoul's Gyeongbokgung Palace will greet participants twice daily at BEXCO Exhibition Hall 1, and the "Royal Family's Stroll," which reenacts a Joseon Dynasty royal procession, will also run twice daily during the same period, providing attractions. Dignified stages will unfold at BEXCO, including the comprehensive traditional arts performance "Let's Go See GOOD Busan" (July 26, Auditorium), the convergence performance "Sanhwabi: Hexagram 22" (July 23-24, Auditorium) that reinterprets Korean intangible heritage in a modern style, a Miryang intangible heritage performance, and a special Joseon Tongsinsa procession (July 26, Outdoor Plaza).

Tourism programs targeting domestic and international visitors, including participants who visited Korea to attend the World Heritage Committee, will also run on a permanent basis. For the general public, the "2026 Refuge Capital Busan National Heritage Night Tour" (July 24-25), organized by the Busan city government, will be held, allowing participants to explore with commentators the historic sites of "Heritage of the Refuge Capital Busan"—a priority nomination list for UNESCO World Heritage that includes Yeongdo Bridge—and to enjoy Busan's beautiful night views and history together. Alongside this, events promoting the excellence of Korea's heritage will be held for official participants such as representatives of overseas member states.

Diverse programs where visitors can experience Korea's history and spiritual culture will be operated. These include "From Records to Heritage" (July 23-29, National Archives of Korea Busan Branch and Busan Museum), which offers a special opportunity to view the actual Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and to experience Joseon royal cosmetic culture through cosmetics modernly reinterpreted based on relics excavated from the tomb of Princess Hwahyeop, as well as the "Busan Suburban World Heritage Field Trip" (July 25) visiting Tongdosa Temple in Yangsan and the Bangudae Petroglyphs in Ulsan, a visit to the Gaya Tumuli World Heritage site and the Hoeamsa Temple Site in Yangju, and a temple food dinner and Seon (Zen) meditation experience hosted by the Jogye Order.

Detailed schedules of the side events and program participation can be checked through the official website of the 48th World Heritage Committee.

Meanwhile, the plenary session of the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee will run from July 19 to 29 at BEXCO in Busan. This is the first time the World Heritage Committee will be held in Korea. About 3,000 people, including delegations and experts from 196 states party to the convention worldwide, are expected to attend. Preliminary side events involving World Heritage officials will begin on July 13, ahead of the plenary session.