On July 20, the "Busan Declaration on World Heritage" was adopted unanimously in the plenary hall of BEXCO in Busan. It was the first day of the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The Korean government led the drafting, and the text set out what states parties should do together in an era when armed conflict, climate change, disasters and development pressure arrive all at once. It is the first time the meeting has been held in Korea in the 38 years since the country joined the convention in 1988.
The declaration proposed adding "cooperation" as a sixth item to the five strategic objectives the World Heritage Convention has long held to: credibility, conservation, capacity building, communication and communities. The list began with four in Budapest in 2002, and communities was added as the fifth in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2007. Accounts differ over the English wording of the original declaration text, which remains a point to be confirmed when the official text is distributed.
The things that threaten heritage do not stop at national borders.
The declaration stated that the practice of managing cultural heritage and natural heritage separately should give way to integrated management. It also called for monitoring, risk-based planning and climate adaptation policy to be strung together in a single line. It touched on the question of interpretation as well.
Stressing inclusive interpretation backed by expertise and evidence, it said local communities, Indigenous peoples and holders of traditional knowledge should enter the interpretation process and share joint responsibility. The government explained that this is the first time responsibility for the digital transition, including AI, has been raised in earnest in an official declaration in the World Heritage field.
The text did not come together overnight. The wording was refined through a domestic expert public hearing and an international expert video conference in April, and an international expert meeting in Seoul in May. Twenty-one committee member states and the three advisory bodies ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN took part. Twelve follow-up projects were presented as well, including the Busan Forum and support for heritage that crosses borders.
Whether the declaration stays on paper will be tested right away inside this session. There are 33 inscription items up for review. Among them is Korea's submission, an extended inscription that widens the "Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats," inscribed in 2021. Deliberation is expected on the 25th.
The inscription area of the Garorim Bay tidal flat included in the extension is about 6,400 hectares. Home to some 170 marine species, it became the country's first marine life protection area. But the tidal flat on the Taean side, which accounts for about 30 percent of Garorim Bay's total of more than 9,200 hectares, was left out for reasons including opposition from residents. The inscription boundary was drawn only as far as the areas where residents' consent was obtained.
Busan outside the meeting is busy too. On the morning of the 20th, a royal guard changing ceremony, said to be the first performed outside Gyeongbokgung Palace, was reenacted on the BEXCO outdoor plaza, and the host country's official exhibition hall, the "Korea Pavilion," opened. The pavilion, with 35 institutions taking part, runs free of charge at BEXCO Exhibition Hall 1 until the 29th.
Guided programs run twice a day, and 38 traditional performances follow on the stage. A welcome dinner held that evening at Nurimaru APEC House brought together 142 people from 73 countries.
Busan also has the story of the heritage the city holds itself. It has Suyeong Yaryu and the Joseon Tongsinsa records, and "Heritage of Busan, the Wartime Capital of the Korean War" was placed on the tentative list in 2023 and is now looking toward formal inscription in 2030.
The sixth objective proposed by the declaration must go through a separate procedure before it becomes an official objective of the convention. In the meantime, guided programs are held in Busan twice a day until the 29th. Whether the tidal flat extension is inscribed will be decided at the deliberation on the 25th.
