These days, the poor restoration of Sungnyemun, which is the south gate in Seoul, is a big issue. Therefore, the Board of Audit and Inspection investigated the repair and management of all cultural assets from December last year to February this year. On May 15, it announced that chemical glue was used in the restoration work on Sungnyemun and no measures to prevent the tilting of Cheomseongdae, a traditional observatory in Gyeongju have been taken. The chemical glue makes the possibility of Sungnyemun catching fire 4 times higher than before, and Cheomseongdae is tilting at 1mm per year. Considering this situation, the Gazette will talk about the problem of the management of Korean cultural assets and solutions to make this situation better.
Sungnyemun and Cheomseongdae are state-designated cultural assets. Sungnyemun is national treasure No. 1 and was destroyed by fire on February 10, 2008. The reason for the fire was the anger of a Korean for man who had not got compensation for a new government’s apartment development. There were 32 fire engines and 128 firefighters. However, Sungnyemun was destroyed because no one knew that the roof tiles on Sungnyemun have a waterproofing function. The fire fighters should have extinguished the fire after taking off the roof tiles. After this accident, it was repaired for five years and restored in 2013. However, after five months, the traditional multicolored paintwork on Sungnyemun cracked because the restorer used chemical glue. Moreover, the Cultural Heritage Administration used bigger roof tiles than the traditional roof tiles. Because of this restoration work, Sungnyemun no longer symbolizes traditional Korean craftsmanship.
Cheomseongdae is national treasure No. 31 and is tilting at 1mm per year. However, it has been neglected and no measures to prevent the tilting have been taken. Cheomseongdae is a stone cultural asset, made from stacked bricks. Therefore, it is vulnerable to uneven ground and there is a danger that the bricks will fall. On May 1, many tourists touched and took a photo on Cheomseongdae. A Gyeongju citizen who witnessed this situation wrote about this problem on the Web site of Gyeongju City Hall, pointing out the problem of lax cultural asset management. Gyeongju City Hall answered, "The reason why this problem occurred is that there was no supervisor on a holiday." However, this has been brought up many times over the years.
Intangible cultural assets are also in bad condition. A person who has a special ability related to traditional products such as food, alcohol, clothes, and household items is designated as an intangible cultural asset. For example in Daegu, Kim Jong-mooon is intangible cultural asset No.12. He is called Daegojang and is an expert in making traditional Korean drums. Lee Jong-han is intangible cultural asset No.17. He is called Changhojang and is an expert in making traditional Korean windows and doors.
In Gyeongsangnam-do, 32 intangible cultural assets are in danger. If an expert passed away, it will be hard to find a person who can learn their special ability and keep it for the next generation. According to information from cities such as Yangsan and Changwon and the Conservation Association for Intangible Cultural Assets, the skills of intangible cultural assets in 18 towns in Gyeongsangnam-do are kept through villagers' support. However, there are not enough young people. For example, gayajinyongshinje is a ritual ceremony which has been conserved for 2000 years. Gayajinyongshinje is a ceremony where ancestors pray for a peaceful year several times a year. To perform this ceremony, at least 120 people are needed, but it is performed by only 60 people now. Furthermore, all these people are in their late sixties.
One kind of intangible cultural asset is yangtae, the process of obtaining silk from bamboo. However, it is also in danger of disappearing. Yangtae needs a long time to make a product, and it doesn’t have practicality and competitiveness against ready-made products.
These days, Koreans don't have much interest in cultural assets even though they are important national treasures. We need to consider solutions to make this situation better. Therefore, the government has to give proper financial help. If the government supports Cheomseongdae more than now, there will be a supervisor who can prevent tourists taking a photo on it. Also, students who learn the special ability of a person designated as an intangible cultural asset receive only 250,000 won a month and assistants receive only 600,000 to 800,000 won a month. They study for at least 20 years. Considering the long period of studying and their potential to be future intangible cultural assets, the financial support is too insignificant to make young people interested in learning the special ability of an expert. Therefore, if the government supports intangible cultural assets with more money, it might increase the number of students.
Furthermore, people can join diverse activities to conserve our cultural assets. For example, teenagers can join a program like "Guardians of Culture." This program is hosted by Paramita Youth Buddist Association of Korea and its major work is exploring cultural assets in Korea, holding an essay contest about cultural assets, and going to other countries like Japan to explore and find Korean cultural assets. Last year, 20,000 students participated in the program.
Korea has a problem with the disappearance of cultural assets. Sungnyemun was destroyed and needs to be repaired again, and some intangible cultural assets are disappearing. However, Korea can overcome these problems with the financial support of the government and the interest of people. The Gazette hopes that Korea will overcome the problem of the management of Korean cultural assets.
