The Cultural Heritage Administration announced that officials and experts from the two Koreas will conduct a joint inspection on the "Complex of KoKuryo Tombs", the only UNESCO World Heritage in North Korea, to conduct scientific study and preservation work.

 

Once the Council of Historians from the Two Koreas and the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, respectively from the South and North, agreed to survey the tombs, the South’s Cultural Heritage Administration and the North’s Department of Culture Preservation decided to support it actively.  The fact-finding survey will be carried out in a systematic and scientific manner with the participation of preservation scientists from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage of South Korea.

 

The Complex of KoKuryo Tombs comprises 63 ancient tombs with 16 murals spread over the cities of Pyeongyang, Nampo and Daedong-gun County in Pyeongannam-do Province and Anak-gun County in Hwanghae-do Province. These large tombs, originating from the period between the 3^rd and 7^th centuries BC, offer a unique testimony to the fact that Koguyro had its own culture: the murals depict in vivid style the diverse aspects of Koguryo life and its people's view of the universe.

 

In the fact-finding survey lasting for two weeks from April 19 to May 2, the South Korean team, composed of 20 preservation scientists from the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and scholars, will cooperate with their counterparts from the North.

 

The surveyed tombs will include 10 at Dongmyeongwang Tomb, Jinpari Tombs No. 1 & 4, Honamri Sasinchong, Gangseo Daemyo, Gangseo Jungmyo, Deokheungri Tomb, Susanri Tomb, Yonggangdaemyo and Ssangyeongchong. Jinpari Tomb No. 4, Honamri Sasinchong, Yonggangdaemyo and Ssangyeongchong have never been surveyed by South Korean scholars. The joint team will analyze the pigments of the murals and examine whether there are structural problems such as subsidence and microorganisms residing in the ancient tombs.

 

Based on the data collected from the survey, the participants will draw up systematic and scientific preservation measures and publish their findings. The South will seek concrete ways to cooperate with the North for the implementation of the preservation measures.

 

On April 20^th before the actual survey, Kang Man Gil, President of The Council of Historians from the Two Koreas; Hong June You, Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administrator; and Bong Gon KIM, Director General of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, will attend a ceremony praying for the smooth operation of the survey. They will meet with North Korean officials, including Director General Kim Seok Hwan of the Department of Culture Preservation, to discuss the implementation of a sustainable and plausible project on inter-Korean exchange and cooperation in the filed of cultural heritage.