Seoul City: "500m World Heritage Regulation Is a 'Law That Undermines Northern Seoul'"

Seoul Voices Concerns Over Cultural Heritage Administration’s Amendment Push
Cites “Excessive and Overlapping Regulation”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has expressed concerns over the Cultural Heritage Administration’s proposed amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the World Heritage Act, which would mandate a “World Heritage Impact Assessment” within a 500-meter radius of World Heritage sites, calling it a “law that undermines northern Seoul.”

In a statement released on December 11, the city said, “While we agree with the intent to preserve World Heritage sites, this amendment constitutes excessive and overlapping regulation that conflicts with the existing urban planning system. In effect, it amounts to a prior approval system by the central government.”

On the 18th of last month, as the ruling and opposition parties continued their confrontation over redevelopment near Jongmyo Shrine, the redevelopment district of Sewoon 4th Zone could be seen beyond Jongmyo in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Previously, on December 10, the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration announced plans to publicly propose the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Special Act on the Preservation, Management, and Utilization of World Heritage Sites within this month. The amendment would expand the protected cultural heritage zone from the current 100 meters to 500 meters, and require management of environmental impacts, such as noise and air quality, caused by large-scale construction projects.

The city argued that “uniformly adding a ‘World Heritage Impact Assessment within 500 meters’ to the already comprehensive urban management system-covering aspects such as building height and landscape-is an administratively convenient form of double regulation,” and added, “It also violates the constitutional principle of proportionality.”

Furthermore, the city stated that retroactively applying new regulations to projects like the Sewoon 4th Zone, where redevelopment plans have already been officially announced through due legal procedures, “undermines the principle of protection of legitimate expectations” and declared that “this is absolutely unacceptable.”

Concerns were also raised that this regulation could undermine the urban competitiveness of the Seoul metropolitan area. The reason is that the broad scope of regulated areas could delay housing supply and discourage investment. The city estimates that the amendment would affect about 38 redevelopment zones across six districts (five in northern Seoul and one in southern Seoul), potentially causing project delays. Many redevelopment sites in northern Seoul, including Sewoon Zones 2 to 5, Imun Zone 3, and Jangwi Zone 11, would be impacted.

The city warned, “If projects are indefinitely delayed due to regulation, residents who have been waiting for redevelopment will face a direct threat to their property rights. In addition, many of the areas within the 500-meter radius of World Heritage sites are densely populated with aging residential buildings, raising concerns about safety risks.”

Lee Minkyoung, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “If citizens come to perceive that World Heritage designation leads to deterioration of surrounding areas, this will be extremely detrimental to the long-term protection of heritage sites. We will continue to urge a thorough review of the amendment’s impact and push for more reasonable institutional improvements.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.