National Heritage Administration Director Heo Min visited UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France and proposed the ‘6C’ vision, the future strategy of the World Heritage Convention, opening a new horizon for international cooperation. The addition of ‘Collaboration’ to the existing five goals of reliability, preservation, capacity building, communication, and community is a strong message from Korea that World Heritage should not simply be the property of one country but a common asset of humanity. In addition, the decision to donate an additional 5.5 billion won to the Transboundary Heritage Trust Fund from 2026 to 2030 proves Korea's responsible attitude to inclusive interpretation of heritage and response to climate change beyond Asia and around the world. These international actions are providing a solid diplomatic foundation for the successful operation of the 48th World Heritage Committee held in Busan in July.

However, unlike the spectacular achievements on the international stage, in Korea, severe conflict surrounding the Jongmyo Shrine and Seun District 4 redevelopment project is ongoing. Jongmyo Shrine has outstanding universal value as a UNESCO World Heritage site, but concerns have continuously been raised about damage to the landscape due to nearby redevelopment. The National Heritage Administration is trying to find a balance between conservation and development through the World Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA), but local governments and development entities are concerned about project delays and are not giving up their will to push ahead. In particular, the surprise approval of the project implementation plan by the mayor of Jongno-gu, whose term is about to expire, has sparked controversy over the legitimacy of administrative procedures, and this is showing signs of escalating into a legal and administrative conflict between the central government and local governments.

The conflict between development and conservation is not limited to Jongmyo Shrine. The development of the Joseon Royal Tombs and Taereung CC also poses difficult issues of preservation and coexistence, which raises fundamental questions about the way Korean society treats cultural heritage. The case of Hwaseong City maximizing historical value and opening forest paths to citizens by linking Yunggeonreung and Gaebija trees suggests a positive direction of enjoying and rediscovering value in daily life rather than neglecting heritage. On the other hand, it is difficult to avoid the point that development methods that focus on easing height restrictions and economic benefits, such as those in Seun District 4, have a high risk of damaging the historical context. Ultimately, establishing a ‘sustainable development’ model that improves urban functions while fully preserving heritage values ​​is the urgent task of our time.

Despite this chaos, the National Heritage Administration appears to be trying to secure momentum for policy implementation by reorganizing its internal organization. The recent manager-level transfer can be interpreted as a determination to speed up resolution of pending issues by strengthening expertise in key areas such as heritage policy, education utilization, historical relics policy, and royal palace management. The government is in close communication with UNESCO and is expressing its strong will to create international best practices on sensitive issues such as Jongmyo and Taereung. However, as legal responses and administrative orders alone have clear limitations, a wise approach is needed to mediate conflicts through social consensus organizations involving local governments, local residents, and cultural heritage experts.