Korea elected to UNESCO World Heritage Committee

Foreign Minister Park Jin delivers a keynote speech during UNESCO's 42nd session of the General Conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Nov. 19. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Korea has been elected as a member of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, a managing body made up of representatives from 21 nations tasked with determining which sites are added to, or removed from, the World Heritage List.

The election took place during the 24th session of the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Wednesday (local time).

Seoul secured one of the seats designated for Asian-Pacific countries and will serve a four-year term through 2027. This marks the country’s fourth time as a committee member, following its terms in 1997, 2005 and 2013.

Alongside Korea, eight other nations – Ukraine, Vietnam, Turkey, Kenya, Senegal, Lebanon, Jamaica and Kazakhstan – are new additions to UNESCO’s managing body.

Established in accordance with the 1972 World Heritage Convention, the intergovernmental committee is in charge of determining whether a property – cultural, natural or mixed – is inscribed on the World Heritage List. It also monitors reports on the state of conservation of previously registered sites and requests state parties to take action when they are not being adequately managed.

Seoul’s participation as its member during this term is particularly timely and can hold significant importance for the country.

The committee is currently assessing whether the gold mines on the Japanese island of Sado – the sites intricately linked to the wartime forced labor of Korean people during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule – should be included in the World Heritage List. The final decision on its status will be made during the meeting scheduled for next year.

Additionally, the state of conservation of Hashima Island, along with 22 other sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2015, is due for review. Previously, the UNESCO committee expressed “strong regrets” over Tokyo’s failure to acknowledge and provide sufficient information about the history of forced labor on Hashima Island, where as many as 800 Koreans toiled in its coal mines.

Korea’s election to the World Heritage Committee can serve as a channel for the country to set forth its position regarding the evaluation and monitoring process for these properties.

“The country’s election to the committee is a result of active diplomacy based on its contributions made to the world heritage program,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) jointly said in a statement.

“As pledged to the international community during the campaign, the country plans to play a leading part in the development of the world heritage system, taking into consideration new challenges facing us today – such as responses to climate change and (balanced) coexistence between regional communities and heritage sites.”