20 MILLION YEAR-OLD FOSSIL WOOD UNVEILED

[Anchor Lead]

A 20 million year-old fossil wood, the biggest of its kind in Korea, has been unveiled to the public for the first time. It was designated a natural monument last month in recognition of its value of showcasing the vegetative and sedimentary environment of the time.

[Pkg]

This tree appears to be alive. There are clear marks of the bumpy veins and knots. It looks like a real tree but it's the fossil of a tree buried in sedimentary layers some 20 million years ago on the Korean Peninsula. The fossilized wood is 10.2 meters long and up to 1.3 meters wide. The largest of its kind in the country, first discovered in Pohang in 2009, was designated a natural monument last month in recognition of its value of showcasing the vegetative and sedimentary environment of the time.

[Soundbite] Jeong Seung-ho(Nat’l Research Institute of Cultural Heritage) : "The outward structure is eerily similar to a living tree and the fact the fossil is over 10 meters long in intact form."

The tree is believed to belong to the Oriental arborvitae family, given characteristics in its growth rings and cell sequencing. Visitors who have observed the fossil are stunned by the sheer size and its well preserved state.

[Soundbite] Kim Myeong-seon(Seoul resident) : "The intact form is preserved. I think any object, whatever the original form, can be petrified."

The Cultural Heritage Administration is reviewing whether to permanently display the object after introducing additional preservation measures and securing an exhibition space. Other displays in the latest special exhibition include a skeletal whale fossil from the Cenozoic period and a fossilized footprint of a four-legged dinosaur.