Enforcement decree in heritage law eased to promote Korean art overseas

The Korea Heritage Service has eased a decades-long rule that banned artworks from being taken out of the country.

Under the previous rule, artworks 50 years old or more, when being considered for sale or exhibition outside Korea, were required to get agency approval over concerns valuable heritage could slip out of the country. The new enforcement decree to the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Utilization Act, effective Tuesday, has loosened the restriction, removing the review process for artworks made in 1946 or later.

The reason for the year 1946 is threefold, according to a KHS official.

“That’s when we see the emergence of professional artists and a local industry dedicated to trading artworks," the official said. “Plus, we believe it was around that time that processes were underway to mass-produce artworks.”

Under the revised enforcement decree, artworks made between the 1940s and 1970s -- a period many in the art industry have pointed to as needing deregulation -- are not subject to the regulation, the official said.

“We expect to see a broader market for Korean artworks now that the ban is practically lifted,” the official said of long-running complaints from the art industry, which had asked for the easing to facilitate exchanges with overseas counterparts.

Discussing a 2023 case in which a 1962 work by Quac In-sik could not be shown at that year’s Frieze London because the KHS did not sign off on taking it out of the country, another KHS official, requesting anonymity to more freely discuss the ramifications of the revised enforcement decree, said, “We wouldn’t be having that again.” Works of “exceptional artistic value” had often faced similar government intervention.

The agency ran an independent study, talked with industry insiders and gathered public opinion before deciding on the change, the official added, noting the independent study by a think tank began in April 2023.

“Other countries’ practices in treating artworks were also consulted,” the official said, referring to the UK, Italy, Japan and Taiwan.

The revision is part of a push by the KHS to see more Korean cultural heritage recognized globally while it assists in heritage preservation efforts in other countries.

Starting this year, the agency will aid Cambodia’s efforts to preserve Angkor Wat over the next three years.

Last year, an official development assistance project in Egypt took off, with the agency-run Korea National University of Heritage planning to establish a center within the Manial Palace and Museum in Cairo that will keep digital replicas of key cultural heritage artifacts currently housed in six state-run institutions in the Egyptian capital.