South Korean cultural heritage expansion initiatives

The Korea Heritage Service has initiated plans to modernize and expand the management of South Korean cultural heritage. The agency proposed a 2027 budget of 1.6645 trillion won, an 11.2% increase from the prior year, intended to transition heritage management into a high-value industry using AI and robotics.

Key components of this strategy include the ‘National Heritage Stay’ project to renovate traditional houses and the ‘National Heritage Comma Project’ to establish rest areas at historical sites. The agency is also targeting 7 million foreign visitors to Korean palaces through enhanced services and specialized cultural products.

Following these budgetary and strategic goals, the Korea Heritage Service and the Korea Heritage Agency expanded the ‘National Heritage Visit Campaign’. This expansion increased the number of designated heritage routes from 10 to 13 and the total number of sites from 76 to 100. New themed routes include the ‘Modern Heritage Road’, the ‘Korean Peninsula Dinosaur Road’, and the ‘Natural Cave Road’. To facilitate tourism, a new ‘Visitor Passport 2’ was introduced to allow participants to collect stamps at these sites.

Furthering regional revitalization, the agency launched the ‘2027 Regional National Heritage Education Activation Project’, selecting 25 programs that integrate traditional heritage with AI, digital content, and biotechnology. Additionally, the ‘National Heritage-based Landmark Regeneration’ project aims to develop ten sites by 2031, modeled after Gyeongju’s Hwangridan-gil, by connecting heritage sites with commercial districts and residential areas through walking axes and night-time programs.