1. The delegation from the Republic of Korea to the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC), which is underway in Bonn, Germany, from June 28 through July 8, announced its plan to hold an international workshop on the sidelines of the WHC meeting. The workshop will take place at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB), the venue of the WHC session, on July 1.

* The ROK delegation is co-led by Second Vice Minister Cho Tae-yul of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Administrator Rha Sun-hwa of the Cultural Heritage Administration and comprised of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cultural Heritage Administration, the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU) and relevant civilian experts.

2. The workshop, which will be hosted by the KNCU with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cultural Heritage Administration, has been organized to promote the 20-year-long history and the future of the ROK’s activities related to World Heritage inscription. The event will bring together experts from such relevant international organizations as the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), as well as delegations from other countries to the 39th WHC session. The workshop will offer the participants an opportunity to revisit the history of the ROK as a country that has won World Heritage status for eleven properties and understand its way forward in this regard.

3. The workshop will feature a presentation by President Lee Hye-eun of ICOMOS-Korea, which will cover the ROK’s activities related to World Heritage inscription ranging from those that led the ROK to win the first-ever World Heritage status at the 19th WHC session held in Berlin, Germany, in 1995 to today’s activities. In addition, a video clip on the ROK’s properties on the World Heritage List will be screened. In particular, with the delegations from the 21 WHC member states, including Germany, the host of the 39th WHC session, present, the event is expected to serve as an opportunity for the participants to promote friendship and engage in exchanges and discussions on major relevant issues.

4. The ROK held international workshops on the sidelines of the 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th sessions of the WHC in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively, receiving favorable responses from a number of delegations to the four sessions. By holding a similar event on the sidelines of the fifth WHC session in a row in 2015, the ROK is expected to demonstrate its role and responsible attitude as a WHC member state and thereby to raise awareness on the ROK and enhance its image in terms of World Heritage.

◦ The WHC, a large-scale international meeting attended by the 191 states parties to the World Heritage Convention adopted in 1972, decides on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List as well as on the inscription of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger; and revises when necessary relevant regulations, including “The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention.” At the ongoing WHC session, the decision will be made as to whether the Baekje Historic Areas of the ROK will be inscribed on the World Heritage List.


* unofficial translation