Daebang Construction asked to tear down top parts of apartments near UNESCO-listed royal tomb in Gimpo

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Thursday withheld its final review decision on Daebang Construction’s plan to resolve the controversy surrounding apartments near the UNESCO-listed royal tomb Jangneung in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province.

This controversy started after the agency found out in May that three construction companies -- Daebang Construction, Daekwang Construction and Kumsung BaekJoe Construction -- were building high-rise apartment complexes near the tomb in Geomdan, a new town in Incheon, without obtaining the CHA’s permission.

The tomb houses the parents of King Injo, the 16th ruler of Joseon, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009, along with several other Joseon royal tombs around the country.

The building of structures over 20 meters tall within 500 meters of a designated cultural property requires permission from the CHA. Concerns over this issue are growing, as over 3,000 households were scheduled to move into the apartments next year.

To resolve the issue, the CHA in October asked the three apartment construction companies to submit a construction plan that can protect the scenery of the tomb.

The agency explained that the adjustment plans that Daebang Construction submitted previously were insufficient.

Daebang Construction mainly presented plans to plant trees around the apartment to hide the buildings which spurred controversy as it can still affect the scenery seen from the Joseon-era royal tomb Jangneung.

The CHA highlighted that Daebang Construction’s plan was not realistic, as the trees would have to be 33 meters to 58 meters tall to cover the apartment complex. Also, the CHA added that it has consulted with the Korean Structural Engineers Association and the Korea Professional Engineer Architectural Execution Association and received an assessment that removing a few stories from the top of the buildings will not harm the safety of the building.

Daebang Construction was specifically asked to re-submit a new improvement plan which includes measures to adjust the height of its apartments, according to the CHA on Thursday.

When looking from the viewpoint of rectangular stones standing in front of the royal tomb, the CHA said that the height of the building in the new plan should not surpass the height of the existing building (Samsung Chereville apartment) that is also within 500 meters of the royal tomb.

Meanwhile, the other two construction firms, Daekwang Construction and Kumsung BaekJoe Construction, recently declined to go through this review process offered by the CHA.

“This means that the other two firms are willing to take this matter to court,” a CHA official Kim Yong-bok added.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)