Original UNESCO certificates found

The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), Sunday, announced it has found two of the seven lost UNECSCO certificates that verify the inscription of Korean cultural assets on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Kim Byung-wook, a member of the National Assembly’s Education, Culture, Sports & Tourism Committee, said he has received a confirmation document from the CHA that it owns the original certifications registering Gyeongju Historic Areas as well as Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites on the World Heritage List in 2000.

However, the governmental body has not located five World Heritage certificates and two UNESCO Memory of the World Register certificates that were found to be missing during an investigation in August.

The five lost original certificates show inscriptions of Seokguram, Bulguk Temple, Haein Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, Jongmyo Shrine, Changdeok Palace and Hwaseong on the World Heritage List between 1995 and 1997 and the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty along with Huminjeongeum on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 1997.

The five UNESCO certificates were presumably kept separately in a cabinet until 2004 but were reissued in 2007 when CHA officials could not locate them.

In 2002, there were discussions to transfer the original UNESCO certificates to the National Archives of Korea, but the plan failed to materialize.

Lawmaker Kim said the original UNESCO certificates themselves are cultural assets and efforts are needed to locate them.