|
Rebirth of Seoul Restoration of Historic Sites Needs Careful Research | |||
Following the successful restoration of a downtown stream, something of Seoul's original appearance as the 600-year-old capital city is reemerging. A 10-year plan unveiled by the Cultural Heritage Administration Tuesday calls for rebuilding at least the old city proper ㅡ the area inside the four major gates during the Chosun Dynasty ㅡ to its original state as much as possible. It is heartening to see our cultural heritage, previously overlooked because of economic impetuosity, will be shown once again. But the rebuilding shouldn't be done in haste. The government plans to reconstruct Kwanghwamun and create a plaza in front of it; open the hill behind Chong Wa Dae to the public; and re-erect part of the wall encircling the inner-city zone. The Seoul Historic City Project, when completed between 2009 and 2015, will put a new face to this old capital, along with ongoing reconstruction of royal palaces and traditional houses. It will also be the restoration of cultural pride, severely wounded by colonization, war and reckless development. Officials are upbeat about the new project, saying Kwanghwamun will be Seoul's Brandenburg Gate and the new plaza, its Trafalgar Square. Yoo Hong-joon, director of the administration, claims the Seoul fortress walls are far shorter than China's great walls but exceed the latter in the state of preservation and architectural skills. Yoo may be right, provided his agency can fully revive their cultural and historical values with sufficient time and money. Any bureaucratic, demonstrative proceedings will not help this vision, however. The officials should not follow the example of the restored Chonggyecheon, which some experts play down as little more than artificial landscape when viewed from a historical viewpoint. Required is the unchanging support and patience of citizens. Also needed is cooperation between the central and metropolitan governments, whose relations have recently been somewhat strained. The city is already taking issue with the project, saying the proposed plaza would cause lots of traffic accidents. Unpleasant as this and other premature criticism may sound, the government should take heed of these concerns, particularly possible traffic congestion. The administration also ought to think about what all these are for ultimately ㅡ giving back to citizens the space for cultural enjoyment and rest. The administration's sharp raise in palace entrance fees and the Seoul government's strict control over the lawns in the City Hall Plaza are running squarely against this. Officials need to agonize over how to make these spaces more human. The agency aims at making Seoul a UNESCO-designated World Heritage city or site, which currently number about 130. There is little wrong with the goal, but the key lies in how to harmonize ultramodern high-rises with age-old relics. Calm, meticulous historical research and sensitivity to human values are needed more than anything else. |