The east and west stone pagodas of the Inwangdong temple site in Gyeongju will be raised again. The restoration work passed review by the restoration subcommittee of the National Heritage Repair Technology Committee in January 2026. The city of Gyeongju plans to secure the main components and then set the two pagodas back where they originally stood. On the 28th an academic conference discussing the scope of that work opens in Gyeongju.
"The Current State of Preservation and Restoration at the Gyeongju Inwangdong Temple Site and Tasks Ahead" begins at 10 a.m. on August 28 in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in Gyeongju. The Korea Heritage Service, the National Museum of Korea and the city of Gyeongju are holding it together. The Seorabeol Cultural Heritage Institute is organizing it. About 200 academic experts and citizens are expected to attend.
The Inwangdong temple site lies south of Wolseong, the Silla palace. It was the center of the old capital.
The temple site was designated a historic site in 2016. The Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage excavated the ground from 2002 to 2011, and a twin-pagoda temple layout emerged, with pagodas set facing each other to the east and west in front of the main hall. Maintenance of the precinct, including the main building sites and the visitor path, has been completed.
The object that best shows the character of the restoration is the palbujungsang panel stone. Eight guardian deities are carved in low relief on a broad granite slab that was fitted into the upper tier of the base. They are beings who protect the Buddhist law, and they are a representative ornament that late Unified Silla stone pagodas wore on their bodies.
Four of these panel stones will be moved to the restoration site within the year. The transfer has been agreed on.
The panel stones left the temple site and spent a long time inside museum display cases. Once they are fitted back into the pagodas, they will take the rain without glass. They will sit at a height where hands can touch them.
The conference is divided into two sessions. In Part 1, "Survey and Maintenance of the Gyeongju Inwangdong Temple Site, Current State and Tasks," Kim Dong-ha, researcher at the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, covers the excavation survey and the features of the temple layout, and Lee Ju-hyeong, expert committee member of the historic sites division at the Korea Heritage Service, addresses how the southern district of the Silla royal capital should be maintained and what that means. Nam Chang-geun, researcher at the Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, reviews the state of maintenance.
In Part 2, "The Value and Preservation of the Stone Pagodas at the Gyeongju Inwangdong Temple Site," Heo Hyeong-uk, curator at the National Museum of Korea, examines the iconography and style of the palbujungsang, and Jeong Hae-du, researcher at the Seorabeol Cultural Heritage Institute, presents research on restoring the stone pagodas. Im Jae-wan, curator at the Gyeongju National Museum, takes up the restoration of the surface ornament of the three-story stone pagoda and its symbolism, and Kim Jong-u, curator at the National Museum of Korea, handles damage assessment of the base panel stones in the museum's collection and estimation of the stone's place of origin. Measuring the damage and determining the place of origin bears directly on where new stone will be brought from.
Restoration of the surface ornament is also on the list of presentation topics. Whether the carvings are cut anew or the surfaces are left smooth changes the impression of the pagodas entirely.
From 4 p.m., Kang Bong-won, professor emeritus at Shin Gyeongju University, chairs a general discussion. The topic is "Seeking New Directions for the Maintenance of the Silla Royal Capital and the Inwangdong Temple Site." Eight people take part, including Choi Tae-seon, professor at the Joong-Ang Sangha University, Lee Sang-jun, former director of the Buyeo National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Hong Bo-sik, professor at Kongju National University, Shin Yong-cheol, director of the Yangsan City Museum, Han Jeong-ho, professor at Dongguk University, Han Uk, professor at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage, Kwon Taek-jang, director of the Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, and Kim Ji-hyun, professor at Dongguk University.
Maintenance of the Inwangdong temple site is proceeding as part of the "Comprehensive Plan for the Restoration and Maintenance of Core Sites in the Silla Royal Capital." The city of Gyeongju said it will reflect the expert opinions and citizen proposals raised that day in its future restoration and maintenance policy. How far the restoration will extend will in the end be decided through discussions like these.
The temple site south of Wolseong can still be walked into today. Follow the visitor path and the two sites where the pagodas stood lie apart at a fixed interval. Two hundred seats will be set out in the Grand Ballroom on the 28th.
