Choi Hwi-young says Sewoon Sangga redevelopment must follow World Heritage impact assessment process

Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young reiterated Wednesday that the redevelopment of Sewoon Sangga — located in front of Jongmyo, a UNESCO World Heritage site — must comply with the World Heritage impact assessment process.

Speaking at a plenary session of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, Choi said development and preservation must be balanced, but that preservation, once lost, cannot be recovered. "I believe all legitimate procedures, including the World Heritage impact assessment, must be followed," he said.

Cultural Heritage Administration chief Heo Min, responding to a question from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jeong Jun-ho about the status of talks with the Seoul Metropolitan Government over the redevelopment, said discussions had continued for 10 months and that he had met Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon four times, but that the process was currently difficult. "Areas recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage sites must be clearly distinguished from ordinary areas, and the recommendations and commitments UNESCO made at the time of inscription must also be honored," Heo said.

Heo added that despite the Cultural Heritage Administration's efforts, the former Jongno-gu district chief had unilaterally approved a change to the project implementation plan in June. "The Cultural Heritage Administration sent an official letter to the Seoul Metropolitan Government requesting cancellation of that approval, but Seoul has refused, citing that the authority to request a corrective order lies with the minister of the competent ministry — the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport," he said.

Choi said in response that the ministry was going through the process of having the competent minister make that request.

Choi also said the ministry would draw up measures to address a surge in movie ticket scalping.

Responding to concerns that the box-office success of the film "Odyssey" had fueled a rise in scalping for premium screens such as IMAX, Choi said, "This phenomenon is emerging mainly around premium screens, so we will review what needs to be done to find a fundamental solution."

Democratic Party lawmaker Jo Gye-won said that day that a total of 391 scalping reports had been filed with the Korean Film Council between Wednesday, Aug. 19, and Monday, Aug. 24.

When Jo asked whether the government should consider anti-scalping legislation similar to the Performance Act and the National Sports Promotion Act, Choi said it would.