Ulsan to mark first anniversary of 'Bangucheon Petroglyphs' UNESCO listing with yearlong events

Ulsan will host a series of events — including international exchanges, exhibitions, academic conferences and hands-on cultural programs — to mark the first anniversary of the "Bangucheon Petroglyphs" being inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The city will hold an anniversary ceremony at 11 a.m. July 16 in the first-floor lobby of Ulsan City Hall. Organizers are staging the event as a citizen-participation program to foster civic pride in the World Heritage Site that residents have worked to protect. Those wishing to attend may register through a QR code on the Ulsan city website by July 13.

On July 17, the 8th World Heritage Site Managers Forum will be held at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center (UECO), bringing together 100 site managers from around the world.

International exchange events include a video class introducing the Bangucheon Petroglyphs to students at Beg-Abel Middle School in France, scheduled for September, and an international academic conference at UECO in November. On the exhibition and academic front, Ulsan Library will run a special exhibition titled "Library of Prehistory: Reading the Petroglyphs" in its first-floor gallery through Sept. 30, while the Ulsan Petroglyph Museum will host "Time Repository: Data from That Day" through April 25 next year.

A range of hands-on events are also planned. "Bangucheon Prehistoric Road" will take place along Bangucheon on Sept. 4-5, followed by "One Night, Two Days into the Petroglyphs" in the Bangucheon area on Sept. 19-20. "Petroglyph Culture Festival at Bangucheon" is set for Oct. 11, and a "Petroglyph Discovery Week Cultural Event" will run at the Petroglyph Museum and other venues from Dec. 18-27.

Ulsan is also carrying out improvements to make the Bangucheon Petroglyphs more accessible to visitors. At the Bangudae Petroglyphs site, the city will install four AI-powered extended reality (XR) telescopes so visitors can experience the heritage more vividly, and will operate a shuttle bus connecting the Petroglyph Museum with the Cheonjeon-ri Inscriptions and Petroglyphs. Alongside this, the city plans to create a waterside deck and aquatic plant habitat at the Dongmaesan wetland near the Bangudae Petroglyphs, and will gradually develop a history and culture trail throughout the Bangucheon area.