Please join the petition to protect and preserve the world-class cultural heritage!
“What if Stonehenge was demolished to make way for a Legoland?”
“What if Parthenon was demolished to make way for a Legoland?”
“What if Pyramid was demolished to make way for a Legoland?”
“What if Colosseum was demolished to make way for a Legoland?”
“What if Angkor Wat was demolished to make way for a Legoland?”
“What if Machu Picchu was demolished to make way for a Legoland?”
It is actually happening in Republic of Korea in 2020.
The Legoland is being built after demolishing a Jungdo historic site, one of the most remarkable prehistoric sties in Republic of Korea.
The total amount of relics that have been excavated so far is 9,000 prehistoric relics 1,266 prehistoric house sites 149 prehistoric tombs
The Jungdo heritage site in Republic of Korea is one of the most remarkable prehistoric site in the world.
In the excavation of buried cultural assets in the Jungdo site, the dwellings and agricultural remains of the Bronze Age such as dolmens, housing sites and large-scale ditch to protect the village have been discovered, which will mark a milestone in the research on the Bronze Age in the world.
Especially, the large-scale ditch to protect the village surrounds the town as the boundary, proving the facts that the surplus of products was accumulated and the community-dominating order was formed here.
In particular, the Jungdo site is the first square-shaped ditch found in Korean peninsular, having a great value to the study of history in Asia and the world.
Damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind, since each people makes its contribution to the culture of the world.
If the construction of the Legoland is continued, therefore, the world-class prehistoric relics that have not been found yet will be destroyed without excavation.
Even, the developer of the Legoland is suspected of dumping construction waste in the Jungdo site, and has not complied with the preservation guidelines of cultural heritage while its construction.
The culture and beliefs of humankind in the Jungdo site are deliberately destroyed by the short-sighted development policy,
and we are on the verge of losing the important opportunity to see, hear, and learn about expression and ideas of humankind.
So, Republic of Korea, as a member of UNESCO, should take all appropriate measures to prevent, avoid, stop and suppress acts of intentional destruction of cultural heritage, according to the Article 3 of UNESCO Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage.
It is because the member states of UNESCO should adopt the appropriate legislative, administrative, educational and technical measures, within the framework of their economic resources, to protect cultural heritage and should revise them periodically with a view to adapting them to the evolution of national and international cultural heritage protection standards.
However, a local government of Gangwon-do, the province where the site is located, and the Cultural Heritage Administration, the responsible ministry, have permitted and looked on the construction, instead of taking actions to prevent, stop, and ban the development of the Legoland, which is an act of intentional destruction of the Jungdo site.
Now, the international community should protect the Jungdo historic site in Republic of Korea.
The international community recognizes the importance of the protection of cultural heritage and takes responsibility to fight against its intentional destruction in any form so that such cultural heritage may be transmitted to the succeeding generations.
According to the UNESCO Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage, the members of UNESCO should cooperate with each other and with UNESCO to protect cultural heritage from intentional destruction.
- Provision and exchange of information regarding circumstances entailing the risk of intentional destruction of cultural heritage
- Consultation in the event of actual or impending destruction of cultural heritage
- Consideration of assistance to States, as requested by them, in the promotion of educational programmes, awareness-raising and capacity-building for the prevention and repression of any intentional destruction of cultural heritage
- Judicial and administrative assistance, as requested by interested States, in the repression of any intentional destruction of cultural heritage
For the reasons, we demand the followings to the UNESCO headquarters and member states around the world.
- UNESCO should investigate the deliberate destruction of the Jungdo historic site in Republic of Korea and make a recommendation to stop it.
- UNESCO should provide judicial and administrative assistance for the impending destruction of cultural heritage of the Jungdo site.
- Member states of UNESCO should make a recommendation to ban the intentional destruction of the Jungdo site in Republic of Korea.
Please join the petition to protect and preserve the world-class cultural heritage!