Seoul mayor says he had breakfast with the Cultural Heritage Administration chief Tuesday to work toward resolving the Jongmyo-Sewoon dispute
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with the head of the Cultural Heritage Administration for the first time since the June 3 local elections, saying the two held "quite constructive" talks aimed at resolving the long-running dispute over the Sewoon District and its proximity to Jongmyo Shrine.
Oh made the remarks Wednesday morning at a seminar titled "The Recovery and Future of Conservative Values," organized by the Future Innovation Forum of the Republic of Korea at the National Assembly Members' Hall.
Explaining why he had skipped a National Assembly forum on Tuesday, Oh said he had a prior breakfast appointment with the Cultural Heritage Administration chief. "As you know, there has been friction between the city and the government over the Sewoon District issue surrounding Jongmyo," he said. "I had met with the chief about three times before the election, and we met again yesterday. It was a session aimed at finding solutions to that problem, and quite constructive dialogue took place."
On June 18, Jongno-gu District Office chief Jung Mun-heon personally drafted and approved a plan to revise the project implementation permit for Sewoon Zone 4. According to the district's official gazette, the change raises the maximum building height along the Cheonggyecheon side from 71.8 meters to 141.09 meters — and from 54 meters to 98.7 meters along the Jongno side — while increasing the number of floors from 20 to 38.
However, Yoo Chan-jong, who won the Jongno-gu district chief seat in the recent election, has instructed his transition team to halt all permitting procedures before he takes office, leaving open the possibility that the Sewoon Zone 4 development could be reversed after the new chief is inaugurated.
Sewoon Zone 4 has long suffered from severe deterioration but has struggled to attract redevelopment due to poor project viability. In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Government significantly relaxed height restrictions on the zone last October. The Cultural Heritage Administration then opposed the project, arguing it would damage views of Jongmyo Shrine, and issued a compliance order directing the city, Jongno-gu and the Seoul Housing and Communities Corp. to complete a Heritage Impact Assessment before proceeding. Seoul has resisted, saying the assessment process would take so long that it would effectively stall the project.
Oh has since met three times with Cultural Heritage Administration chief Heo Min to exchange views on the threat to Jongmyo's visual landscape posed by the Sewoon Zone 4 development. In April, Oh said that after a recent meeting with the chief, "it seemed there had been some misunderstandings along the way, and unexpectedly, it felt like an atmosphere where we could look for common ground might be possible."
ikson@heraldcorp.com
