Oh Se-hoon: “The National Heritage Administration Is National Heritage’s Biggest Enemy” — Takes Aim at Sewoon District 4 Review Delay

[Financial News] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon strongly criticized the National Heritage Administration for repeatedly postponing a review of preservation measures for buried heritage at the Sewoon District 4 redevelopment project opposite Jongmyo Shrine, saying, “The greatest enemy of national heritage is the National Heritage Administration.” He accused the agency of delaying the project with inconsistent review standards. On the 5th, Oh posted a message on Facebook titled “The Greatest Enemy of National Heritage Is the National Heritage Administration” and urged the agency to act, saying, “This kind of review cannot be called a review. It is obstinacy under the guise of administration. The National Heritage Administration must stop this obstinacy immediately and conduct its review on proper legal grounds and according to reasonable standards.”
Sewoon District 4 is an urban redevelopment site opposite Jongmyo Shrine. It was designated for redevelopment in 2004 but construction has yet to begin, 22 years on. Seoul’s plan is to renovate the aging downtown area and create a green corridor stretching from Jongmyo Shrine to Namsan.
Oh pointed out that the National Heritage Administration had demanded a World Heritage Impact Assessment for Sewoon District 4, which lies outside the World Heritage site, and had also repeatedly postponed reviews of buried heritage.
He claimed that the reasons given for the National Heritage Committee’s three consecutive postponements, from August through October, had also changed. The committee initially demanded confirmation of changes to the project plan, later raised the need for an on-site investigation, and, after the investigation was completed, invoked the principle of preserving the remains in their original location.
Oh questioned the consistency of the review standards, saying, “At the first review in 2024, they decided that some of the remains could be preserved after relocation. Can you entrust the whistle to a referee who moves the goalposts every time someone kicks the ball?”
He also raised concerns about the legal basis for the World Heritage Impact Assessment. Oh noted that the National Heritage Administration had said it would legally request an assessment following an amendment to the Enforcement Decree this January, and that on the 4th it announced plans to establish management standards going forward.
He criticized the agency, saying, “This is an admission that it has kept residents tied down until now without any legal basis or standards,” and “It’s like rewriting the rules after the game has started.”
He also mentioned the residents’ damages lawsuit over the project delays. According to Oh, residents have filed a lawsuit against the state seeking around 25 billion won in damages for losses caused by the delays.
Oh warned, “If the fifth review is postponed as well on the 18th, that decision will become evidence in the lawsuit.”
The National Heritage Administration, however, maintains that the World Heritage Impact Assessment is not a regulation intended to block development, but a system for seeking coexistence between World Heritage preservation and development projects. The dispute between the two sides over Sewoon District 4 is therefore expected to flare up again at the review of buried heritage preservation measures scheduled for the 18th.
Oh emphasized, “Seoul is more committed than anyone to protecting World Heritage,” adding, “We will no longer stand by while residents’ lives are indefinitely held in limbo under the guise of heritage protection.”

[email protected] Seong Cho-rong Reporter