The tragic destruction of South Korea's top national treasure shows that the preservation of cultural property is in total disarray. People are not only shocked by the Feb. 10 arson attack on the Namdaemun gate in central Seoul but also the authorities' poor job of fire extinction and cleanup of the tarred structure. Fires have destroyed invaluable cultural assets, including a wooden pavilion at the Hawseong Fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and the Naksan Temple in Gangwon Province over the past years.
Since these incidents the related authorities continually failed to come up with bolder measures to protect cultural assets from potential blazes, proving they have only paid lip service. It is a shame that South Korea, the world's 12th-largest economy, has no established system for effective fire-prevention and safety protocol to bring fires under control swiftly.
It is also disappointing that the 20 tons of blackened wood, roof tiles and other rubble of the 610-year-old gate were disposed of at a waste site last week. It was as if the broken and tarred pieces of the gate were abandoned like ordinary construction waste. These materials should have been sifted through so as to be used in the restoration of the National Treasure No. 1.
People cannot but ask a question: Why does the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) exist? The agency must have forgotten its role of preserving cultural properties. Immediately after the fire, the CHA announced a 20-billion-won ($21-million) plan to restore the gate, originally called Sungnyemun, as soon as possible. But how did it fail to collect recyclable pieces from the tarred debris? Belatedly, the CHA promised to make efforts to sort out materials to be used for reconstruction.
If officials and experts of the agency do not go all-out to gather reusable cultural pieces from the destroyed site, who will devote themselves to the preservation and restoration of the symbolic icon of the nation. It is regrettable that no one is taking responsibility for the shameful loss of Namdaemun, made of wood and stone with a two-tiered, pagoda-shaped tilted roof that was completed in 1398.
CHA chief You Hong-june offered to resign on Tuesday. But President Roh is still refusing to accept You's resignation. You has been criticized for neglecting the security of Namdaemun and other cultural assets. He is also slammed for going on an overseas junket sponsored by several businesses when the arson attack occurred Sunday night. He may face investigation over money he accepted from the firms.
Incoming President Lee Myung-bak is obliged to take radical measures to better protect and preserve priceless cultural properties and heritages that will pass on to future generations. But people are not sure if Lee will do better than Roh. Concerns are growing that nothing will change under the leadership of Lee whose top priority is economic revival.