Construction of the new Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province headquarters in Goeun-ri, Dongnaemyeon, Chuncheon has been suspended after a large number of artifacts were discovered at the site. Heavy machinery that had been operating through Wednesday morning came to a halt Wednesday afternoon.
A reporter who visited the site Thursday alongside the Chuncheon Jungdo Prehistoric Site Preservation Committee — the civic group that first reported the discovery — found various pieces of heavy equipment parked to one side with their engines off.
Chuncheon city officials conducted an on-site inspection Wednesday afternoon and ordered a construction halt immediately upon receiving the report, then notified Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, the project's contracting authority.
The Cultural Heritage Administration had previously instructed Gangwon Province in an official letter dated July 23 — reference No. Yujeok Balgul-gwa-10583 — that "if any remains or artifacts suspected of being national heritage are discovered during construction … work must be stopped immediately without altering the site, and our agency must be notified."
The construction suspension was triggered by the discovery of 97 objects believed to be buried cultural heritage at the new headquarters site on Tuesday.
The Cultural Heritage Administration is expected to launch an investigation into the age and significance of the artifacts.
The new headquarters project is also the subject of ongoing litigation, with a court case filed over alleged procedural irregularities in the administrative process.
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