Royal Tombs

[Anchor Lead]

In 2013, royal tombs of the Goryeo Kingdom in the city of Kaesong in North Korea were inscribed as World Heritage. However, Goryeo tombs on Ganghwado Island were excluded. Many historians are calling for the inscription of Gangwha royal tombs as well.

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After a ten-minute ascent up this mountain, the tomb of Goryeo King Gojong comes into view. The burial mound measures about five to six meters, and it only has four stone figures placed in front of it. The tomb of Goryeo King Heejong, which is surrounded by a stone fence, is also unusually simple for a royal tomb.

[Soundbite] Chung Hak-soo(Research Center for Incheon History and Culture) : "Royal tombs that were set up on Ganghwa when it became the capital of Goryeo Kingdom are not large, because Ganghwa served as a wartime capital."

Ganghwado Island, which used to be the capital of the Goryeo Kingdom for 39 years to protect the country from Mongolian invasions, is confirmed to have four royal tombs. Many historians are calling for including the Ganghwa royal tombs with the Goryeo royal tombs in the North Korean city of Kaesong, which were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2013.

[Soundbite] Prof. Chung Kyung-il(Yanbian University, China) : "Adding more relics to the World Heritage list is an important task of inter-Korean cultural heritage cooperation."

The government of Incheon City plans to officially request that the Cultural Heritage Administration inscribe the Ganghwa royal tombs with UNESCO World Heritage designation this year as part of inter-Korean cooperation. It remains to be seen if more royal tombs from the Goryeo and Joseon periods will be added to the World Cultural Heritage list.