Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, said on the 24th, "I believe Jongmyo is Korea, Korean culture, and the history of the Korean people itself. Properly preserving Jongmyo is the responsibility of all of us."
Assomo, meeting with reporters at BEXCO in Busan, where the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is being held, expressed such concern over the recent situation surrounding Jongmyo. "Many World Heritage sites located in city centers face similar problems. This is not an issue unique to Jongmyo," he said, adding, "If there is a development project, it must go through a procedure to assess what impact it will have."
He took a cautious stance regarding the World Heritage Committee's "decision text," which stated that the Japanese government, contrary to its original promise, had not properly informed the public of the fact that forced labor of Koreans took place at the Sado mines. "The process of reviewing the state of conservation management and adopting a decision text is intended to encourage stakeholders to make greater efforts toward preservation through dialogue," he said, stressing that "more dialogue between Japan and Korea is needed."
Regarding the "Busan Declaration on World Heritage" (Busan Declaration), announced on the 20th and emphasizing cooperation and solidarity, he explained that it is "a message thrown to people around the world about how to confront and respond to the crises facing World Heritage."
Busan = By Choi Soo-moon, Senior Reporter
