hankyoreh

By Im In-taek, staff reporter
A permit is not being granted for the construction of a new Japanese embassy in Seoul. The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) cited concerns about damage to the historic and cultural environment of nearby Gyeongbok Palace in explaining the refusal of permission. The CHA had conducted a site survey on June 20 before voting not to approve the alteration at a July 4 meeting of its historical site subcommittee.
Japan filed for permission for the demolition of the old building and the construction of a new one in its place. The old building, which has been in use since 1976, is a five-story structure with one basement level. The new building would have been more than three times larger in floor area, with six stories above ground and three below and a total height of 35.8 meters.
“The current embassy building is visible from the Gyeongbok Palace area, and the planned building would exceed the announced standards for an alteration to an existent building. Those standards exist to preserve and manage the historical and cultural environment of the palace over the long term,” the CHA explained. A new building would first require an existing state alteration permit from the CHA, since it would be located within 100 meters of Gyeongbok Palace. Even if this permission had been granted, the site would have been subject to 30-meter height limit since it falls in the Unhyeon Palace district unit planning zone.
Those wishing to build structures of 30 to 33 meters in height would require approval from Jongno district, where the embassy is located. Any taller structures need approval from Seoul city government.
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