Cultural Properties Damaged

[Anchor Lead]

The recent earthquake in Pohang has affected homes, public facilities and cultural properties alike. Emergency restoration efforts are currently underway, but some of the cultural properties have been damaged and will likely take a long time to restore.

[Pkg]

This is the Pohang Youngil Folk Museum, which used to be a governmental building of Prince Heunghae. The walls of the building have cracked and collapsed during the recent earthquake, while about one-third of the fence has been severely destroyed.

[Soundbite] Kwon Sang-rok(Manager, Pohang Youngil Folk Museum) : "It came tumbling down all of a sudden and there was nothing we could do. We just ran outside."

Some of the porcelain that was on display at the museum has been destroyed, while a thatched-roof exhibit hall has crevices all over the structure and is showing signs of collapse. Yangdong Village in Gyeongju, a UNESCO World Heritage site located 13 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, has also sustained damage. The number of damage reports involving cultural properties has risen from 17 shortly after the Pohang quake to 24. Most of the damaged cultural assets can be restored in a short period of time, but the stone pagoda at Jeonghyesa Temple in Gyeongju and a stupa in Bogyeongsa Temple have been severely deformed with their top parts tilting to the side.

[Soundbite] Jin Byung-gil(Director, Cultural Properties Protection Association) : "About four cultural properties will probably take a while to restore, as they need design and safety inspections. The remaining 20 properties can be restored within three weeks."

The Cultural Heritage Administration expects the restoration efforts to take at least six months.