1. The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) took place in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 11 to 17, bringing together some 2,000 people from the 21 member states of the WHC and 108 States Parties to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The delegation from the Republic of Korea was led by Ambassador to UNESCO Lee Byong-hyun and comprised of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cultural Heritage Administration, as well as civilian experts. Jo Eugene, one of the ROK experts, served in the WHC Bureau as Rapporteur in the session.

2. On July 11, with regard to the inscription in 2015 of Japan's Meiji industrial sites on the World Heritage List, Ambassador Lee expressed his sincere hope that Japan will take tangible measures to make good on its pledges.

° In response, Japan’s head delegate to the meeting, Ambassador to UNESCO Kuni Sato, noted that Japan respects the WHC’s decision last year and will establish an information center and take other appropriate measures to set an interpretive strategy. She added that to that end, Japan has formed a committee of Japanese and foreign experts and has been gathering information necessary for setting an interpretive strategy in efforts to write a progress report.

3. On July 13, the ROK delegation hosted an academic seminar on interpretive strategies for world heritages.

4. The WHC session was initially scheduled to last until July 20, but due to the situation caused by part of the Turkish military on July 15, the session came to a close on July 17 in line with the UN safety regulations. The agenda items that were not covered in the session, including revising the operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, will be discussed at the meeting in Paris in early October. The 41st session of the WHC will take place in Poland in July 2017.


* unofficial translation