By Do Je-hae
Authorities agreed Sunday on a new plan to preserve ancient rock engraving from water erosion at the Bangudae archeological site in a river in Ulsan.
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won mediated for central and local administration on the agreement to install a variable-height dam with transparent walls around the petroglyphs.
The plan comes after 13 years of discord between the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and the Ulsan municipal government.
The dam around the engravings at Bangudae, located on the lower part of a 30-meter cliff in the Daegokcheon River, will be adjustable to cope with varying water levels.
“We are hoping for the successful implementation of the agreement so that the Bangudae carvings can attain a global reputation as a historical site,” Chung said.
Chung was in Ulsan on June 1 to gather views from local experts and serve as an arbitrator in the issue as Byun Young-sup, the new head of the CHA, and the Ulsan Mayor Bak Maeng-woo failed to find a long-term solution that pleased both parties.
Now CHA and Ulsan will jointly conduct the necessary tests and research for the dam with support and supervision from the culture ministry and the prime minister’s office.
To save the rock carvings from erosion, the CHA has sought to lower the water levels at the Sayeon Dam, which was built in 1965, six years before Bangudae was discovered. But this would cause water supply problems to the 1.1 million people of Ulsan. The Sayeon Dam supplies Ulsan with drinking water but the rocks on which the petroglyphs are carved are covered for about eight months every year.
Municipal authorities in Ulsan instead had opted for encircling the rock engravings with a permanent, eco-friendly barrier, or what they call an "ecological embankment." But CHA officials claim that such facility would disrupt the environment and derail their efforts to list Bangudae on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The engraved images show humans hunting a variety of animals, including more than 40 depictions of large sperm, right and humpback whaless. The engravings have been designated as National Treasure No. 285 and were placed on the Tentative UNESCO World Heritage List in 2011.
Experts including Byun have claimed that the carvings provide significant evidence about human life during the Stone Age.