High-rise development in front of Jongmyo sparks National Assembly audit clash; Huh Min warns of risk to World Heritage status [2026 National Assembly audit]

[Financial News] Controversy over high-rise development in Sewoon District 4 in front of Jongmyo spilled into a debate over the reliability of landscape simulations at a National Assembly audit. As the ruling and opposition parties clashed over how Seoul Metropolitan Government’s materials were produced and how they were verified on site, Korea Heritage Service chief Huh Min expressed concern that Jongmyo could lose its World Heritage status.
At a comprehensive audit by the National Assembly Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on the 23rd, Huh said of the redevelopment of Sewoon District 4, “The very prospect of Jongmyo losing its status (as a World Heritage site) is frightening.” In response to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Noh Jong-myun’s point that the heritage site must be preserved in line with international standards, Huh stressed, “It must be protected for future generations.”■Ruling and opposition parties clash over simulation using Road ViewThe point of contention that day was whether the landscape simulation of the completed development, released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government last year, appropriately reflected the actual view from Jongmyo.
Noh argued that the background in the simulation matched a NAVER Road View image taken in 2018. The cloud formations and surrounding buildings were the same, and there appeared to be signs that Road View labels and some structures had been removed or altered.
Noh questioned whether the simulation had downplayed the possibility of damage to the landscape, noting that ultra-wide-angle photos can exaggerate perspective and make distant buildings appear smaller than they really are. Noh criticized the Seoul Metropolitan Government for having said, on the basis of the image, that the development’s impact on the landscape would be limited.
By contrast, People Power Party lawmaker Jo Eun-hee countered, “The 2018 Road View image of Jongmyo is the most recent material available on NAVER.” Jo pointed out that Seoul Metropolitan Government officials had explained the use of Road View during an earlier site inspection, and said the Korea Heritage Service had rejected the city’s proposal for joint measurements.
Huh said the possibility that the simulation had been distorted was “quite disconcerting.” He responded that it would be regrettable if the Seoul Metropolitan Government had in fact distorted the landscape.■Building height increase puts preservation of Jongmyo’s landscape at issueThe conflict stems from the increase in the permitted height of buildings in Sewoon District 4. In 2018, the Korea Heritage Service, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and others agreed on a maximum building height of 71.9 meters along Cheonggyecheon Stream. However, after the Seoul Metropolitan Government raised the maximum height last year to 145 meters (141.9 meters when the elevation-angle rule is applied), disagreements have continued over matters including compliance with the World Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA).
The Seoul Metropolitan Government maintains that high-rise development would have a limited impact on Jongmyo’s landscape, while the Korea Heritage Service continues to argue that the impact on the World Heritage site must be assessed before development proceeds.
Jongmyo is a royal shrine where the ancestral tablets of successive kings and queens of Joseon, and emperors and empresses of the Korean Empire, are enshrined and rites are held. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. The heritage site’s value lies not only in its buildings and spatial layout but also in the continuity of its ritual traditions.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre states, in describing the state of conservation of Jongmyo, that high-rise buildings outside the buffer zone could have a negative impact on views from within the shrine.

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