Image: Jinju City ()
Jinju City held the first non-face-to-face videoconference with three local governments, including Suncheon-si, Gochang-gun, and Seosan-si, on the 9th for joint listing of ‘Korea Eupseong’ as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Eupseong Fortresses were built to protect villages in local Gunhyeon in the old days, and they were scattered all over the country. There are about 98 eupseong fortresses that exist across the country, of which 16 are designated as national historic sites, including Jinjuseong.
Local governments participating in the video conference on this day were Jinju-si (Jinju-seong) in Gyeongsangnam-do, Suncheon-si (Nagan-eupseong) in Jeollanam-do, Gochang-gun (Gochang-eupseong, Mujang-eupseong) in Jeollabuk-do, and Seosan-si (Haemieupseong) in Chungcheongnam-do (Haemieupseong), and Kim Gwi-bae, head of the Science and Culture Division of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO attended as a special guest.
In this meeting, which took place for about an hour from 10 am to 11 am, supervised by Suncheon City, the future direction was discussed, such as the formation of the Eupseong City Council for the joint listing of the Korean Eupseong Fortress as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the joint research and preservation and utilization of the Eupseong Fortress, and the development of various cultural contents.
The basic groups that can participate in the formation of the Eupseong City Council are 15 basic groups with 16 townships designated as national historic sites.
“We need to work together to induce the participation of not only the local governments participating in this video conference, but also other towns and villages in the council, and jointly register the Korean Eupseong as a UNESCO World Heritage site through business consultations and exchanges and cooperation among domestic towns and villages,” said Jo Gyu-il, mayor of Jinju.
