I want to know about the Special Act on the Preservation of Ancient Cities

• The Special Act on the Preservation of Ancient Cities was established in order to introduce an institution required to protect a city as a whole: cultural heritages in ancient cities such as Gyeongju, surrounding historic and cultural environments of such heritages, and the property rights of the citizens. 
• The Act, proposed as a legislative act in November 2001, was resolved at the Assembly plenary session after two years of deliberation and revision and announced on March 5th, 2004. The intention of the Act is to “establish an institutional device that refines the framework of urban structure at a macro-level in order to preserve historic cities” such as Gyeongju. 
• Thus far, preservation of cultural properties has been carried in a patchy manner along with conventional urban renewal and various development projects under such individual laws as the Cultural Heritage Protection Act and the Urban Planning Laws, undermining the identity of historic cities and causing inconvenience to the neighbors by, for example, limiting the exercise of their property rights for an extended period of time. With the establishment of the special act, however, the conflict between and the policies for preservation and development can be coordinated in a single institutional framework. 
• The expected effects of the special act are that: the quality of life of the neighbors can be improved and the history revived by harmonizing the preservation of the cultural properties and the historic and cultural environments with the protections of the neighbors’ rights of private properties; and historic cities can restore their status as resources of cultural tourism so that historic and cultural heritages can be shared by all the people in the nation. 
• As of now, the range of the ‘ancient cities’ is limited to Gyeongju, Buyeo, Gongju, and Iksan. Additional areas are expected to be designated as ancient cities by a Presidential decree. The four areas have first been designated taking their status as a historic city into account. There may be an opinion that another city also should be designated as an ancient city. With the implementation of the special act, additional designation can be made in the future through a comprehensive review on the stable establishment of the institution and the conditions for fundraising.