“Seeking Ways to Use Busan’s Cultural Heritage”: Busan Metropolitan Council Holds Meeting

[Financial News] A meeting was held to explore ways to preserve and manage Busan’s cultural heritage, a historical and cultural asset of the city, while developing sustainable uses linked to education, tourism and the local economy.
The Busan Cultural Heritage Research Group, a council members’ research group of the Busan Metropolitan Council, held its first meeting in the council’s medium-sized conference room on the 21st. The group announced on the 22nd that members discussed its future direction and major research projects.
The research group was formed to reassess the value of Busan’s historical and cultural assets and find sustainable ways to use them beyond preservation and management.
The group aims to promote the inscription of Busan, the Wartime Capital, on the World Heritage List, effectively communicate Busan’s historical and cultural value at home and abroad, and establish a policy foundation for connecting that value to the city’s competitiveness. Its research plans include visits to cultural heritage sites, fact-finding surveys for preservation and management, case studies on links between culture and tourism, and policy forums.
At the first meeting, council members in the research group exchanged views on future tasks, including the preservation and use of Busan’s cultural heritage, field-based research activities, and ways to cooperate with experts and relevant organizations.
The research group plans to undertake various activities, including site visits, case studies and policy forums, and continue identifying effective policy initiatives.
Representative council member Song Sang Jo said, "Busan still has important traces of its modern and contemporary history and a wide range of cultural heritage throughout the city, including the heritage associated with Busan, the Wartime Capital," and pledged, "We will seek ways to connect these assets with education, tourism, the local economy and cultural content so that they can be used as resources that citizens can directly experience, rather than remaining merely heritage from the past that must be preserved."
He added, "Based on the diverse views of the council members in the research group, we will make our research activities more concrete by visiting sites ourselves and broadly listening to experts and relevant organizations," and said, "We will also thoroughly prepare the commissioned policy research projects planned for the future so that they can support the group’s identification of policy initiatives."
[email protected] Byeon Ok-hwan Reporter