1. Winning at the 2025 CES Innovation Awards
The intelligent solution for producing digital diagrams of cultural
heritage in real-life scale, developed as a task for the Smart
Conservation and Utilization Technology Development Project for
National Heritage jointly conducted by Korea Heritage Service and
NRICH since 2021, won the CES Innovation Award at the 2025
CES Innovation Awards, the world’s largest ICT convergence fair.
To promote the development and utilization of national heritage
conservation technologies, Korea Heritage Service and NRICH
established the 1st Master Plan for National Heritage Conservation/
Maintenance/Utilization R&D (2021-2025) and have conducted
the Smart Conservation and Utilization Technology Development
Project aiming to complete 15 tasks over the course of five years
from 2021 with a total budget of KRW 48.9 billion. The award
winning solution, Arch3D Liner, is the product of one of the 15
tasks, which was led by Carrotphant and supported by the two
government institutions with an investment of KRW 2.5 billion for
the period of four years from 2022. Arch3D Liner was created to
resolve the shortage of software specialized in drawing diagrams
of excavated artifacts and is capable of producing digital diagrams
in real-life scale based on a thorough analysis of buried heritage
using 3D scanning data and AI technology.
02. Conducting the capacity-building training program
for international conservation specialists at Chiang
Mai National Museum in Thailand
NRICH hosted CollAsia (Conservation and Use of Southeast Asian
Collections), a capacity-building training program for conservation
specialists, jointly with ICCROM under the theme “Connecting
Collections with Museum Spaces and Contexts” for three weeks
from November 11 to 29, 2024, at Chiang Mai National Museum in
Thailand.
CollAsia is a training program that has been operated with the
trust fund of Korea Heritage Service since 2013. We began to
dispatch our in-house conservation experts in 2022 as program
lecturers. In 2023, we concluded an MOU with ICCROM to jointly
plan and expand the parameters of CollAsia.
This year’s CollAsia dealt with the conservation and maintenance
of in-house collections, maintenance of museum space, and crisis
management and utilization of cutting-edge technologies for
cultural heritage. Our conservation experts in different fields, from
exhibition utilization to conservation science, architectural heritage,
and intangible heritage, gave lectures centering on Korea’s cases.
NRICH plans to closely cooperate with ICCROM throughout the
future to reinforce the cultural heritage conservation capacity
of the Asia-Pacific region and widely promote Korea’s advanced
conservation and utilization technologies.
03. Transferring traditional dancheong pigment manufacturing technology to the private sector
NRICH transferred the technology for manufacturing the dongnok
pigment created to replace the traditional hayeop pigment used for
dancheong (Patent 10-2543223). It is a state-owned patent obtained
through dancheong pigment restoration research. Dancheong refers to
Korean decorative coloring on wooden-built heritage and artifacts. The
hayeop pigment was traditionally used as a green hue for dancheong of
traditional structures (temples, palaces, government buildings, etc.) and
traditional paintings. However, due to the discontinuance of its production
and loss of its production recipe resulting from the use of chemical
pigments, it had not been available over an extended period of time.
NRICH conducted restoration research from 2019 to 2022 based on
ancient documents and succeeded in the reproduction of the dongnok
(basic copper chloride) pigment similar to the hayeop pigment discovered
on site in terms of color and composition and securing its manufacturing
technology. The transferred technology, a state-owned patent registered
in June 2023, involves the production of the dongnok pigment with
greater efficiency to replace the discontinued hayeop pigment. This is the
second traditional technology with a state-owned patent to be transferred
to the private sector following the pigment classification method in 2019
(Patent 10-1957716) and an exemplary case of commercializing the
outcomes of traditional ingredient restoration research.
04. Conducting a joint investigation on state designated architectural heritage of Mongolia
NRICH conducted an investigation on the safety and conservation status
of Tsogtyn Tsagaan Baishin Castle and Gandantegchenlin Monastery in
Mongolia from July 15 to 26, 2024, jointly with the National Center for
Cultural Heritage affiliated with the Mongolian Ministry of Culture, Sports,
Tourism and Youth.
The joint investigation was conducted under the Korea-Mongolia
cooperation MOU signed on June 30, 2024, to extend the joint safety and
fire prevention efforts for cultural heritage by the two institutions, which
have continued since 2017, by three more years. The joint investigation
team (Safety and Disaster Prevention Division of Korea’s NRICH and
Emergency Cultural Heritage Protection Division of Mongolia’s National
Center for Cultural Heritage) conducted an investigation on the safety,
fire prevention, and conservation status of Tsogtyn Tsagaan Baishin
Castle, a 16th-century historic site located in Bulgan lacking resources for
conservation and maintenance, and Gandantegchenlin Monastery, a 19th
century Buddhist monastery located in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar,
from July 15 to 26, 2024. This investigation helped enhance Mongolia’s
global image and accumulate basic data for the conservation of the
nation’s architectural heritage through offering safety and fire prevention
technologies and experts, thereby contributing to the promotion of safety
and fire prevention research for East Asia’s cultural heritage.
05. Initiating the public services of “GIS for Urban Historic Sites” and “On-Site Investigation Map”
NRICH successfully initiated the GIS-based public services of “GIS for
Urban Historic Sites” and “On-Site Investigation Map,” designed to
support buried heritage research and training institutions, on July 10,
“GIS for Urban Historic Sites” is a digital map system offering a
comprehensive collection of information about historic sites in four
ancient capitals (Gyeongju, Buyeo, Gongju, and Iksan), including
2,243 sites and 27,385 archaeological features, topographic maps and
cadastral maps of the Japanese colonial era, old aerial photos, and
ancient tomb distribution maps. This integrated system has reduced
the time required to collect and analyze data of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport and National Archives of Korea for each
on-site investigation from two to three days to less than 30 minutes.
“On-Site Investigation Map” is a system that enables the archiving,
editing, and updating of data from on-site investigations of cultural
heritage (overview, on-site photos, reference materials, etc.) on digital
maps in connection with “GIS for Urban Historic Sites.” It can be
accessed via mobile devices and utilized on site.
research and training institutions. They can be accessed and utilized
after submitting an application via the NRICH website (https://www.
nrich.go.kr) for the issuance of an account
06. Excavating Tomb 5 of the Jisan-dong Ancient Tombs
in Goryeong-gun (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Gyeongju National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage undertook the
excavation of Tomb 5 of the Jisan-dong Ancient Tombs in Goryeong-gun
in September 2024. Tomb 5 is the largest tomb (45m in diameter and
11.9m in height) of the Jisan-dong Ancient Tombs, one of the seven ancient
tomb groups inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in September
last year under the name “Gaya Ancient Tombs.” Tomb 5 is referred to as
Geumnim Royal Tomb in Sinjeung donggukyeojiseungram (Revised and
Expanded Edition of the Survey of the Geography of Joseon), a geography
book compiled in the Joseon period. In 1939, during the Japanese colonial
era, the first excavation was conducted by Japanese archaeologists Arimitsu
Kyoichi and Saito Tadashi. However, they left behind only a brief report and
a few photos of the on-site scenes and excavated artifacts. Goryeong-gun
was designated the fifth ancient capital in July 2024, following Gyeongju,
Buyeo, Gongju, and Iksan, which is raising expectations for new discoveries
in the history of Daegaya, a city-state of the Gaya confederacy. Goryeong
was the political and cultural center of Daegaya, as evidenced by its wealth
of historical legacy. These include palace and fortress sites dating back to
Daegaya, Jisan-dong Ancient Tombs inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, Jusanseong Fortress that served as a fortification for the palace,
diverse cultural heritage such as waterway sites and earthenware kilns, and
intangible heritage such as the founding myth of Daegaya.
07. Identifying the drainage system of the earthen fortification of Gaya on the Gaya-ri Historic Site in Haman-gun for the first time
Gaya National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage identified the
drainage system that connects the inside and outside of the ancient
fortification from its excavation of the Gaya-ri Historic Site in Haman
gun, known as the ancient capital of Ara Gaya. This is the first drainage
system excavated from historic sites classified under the Gaya sphere.
The fortress wall structure and the site development process for the
inside of the fortress were newly discovered as well.
At the on-site presentation held on November 13, 2024, Gaya National
Research Institute of Cultural Heritage disclosed the outcomes of the
excavation performed on gokganji in the northwestern part of the
Gaya-ri Historic Site last year. Gokganji refers to a narrow and sunken
topographical feature where water from the surrounding areas flows in
for natural drainage.
On November 20, an academic forum was held at Haman Museum
targeting local citizens. Four presentations were given on the themes of
“Ara Gaya’s Capital Built with the Rammed Earth Technique,” “Ara Gaya
People Pioneering Nature,” “Life Lines of Ancient Ara Gaya Discovered
through the Salt Road,” and “Ara Gaya – Protecting Its Capital with a
Fortress,” offering opportunities to learn about the results of the latest
excavations at the Gaya-ri Historic Site and research projects conducted
in Haman-gun, the former hub of Ara Gaya
08. Reviving records of the independence movement
through conservation treatment
The Cultural Heritage Conservation Science Center completed the
conservation treatment of the State-Registered Cultural Heritage
of The Diaries of Jang Hyo-geun and the Declaration of Grand
Alliance, which was initiated in 2022.
The Diaries of Jang Hyo-geun is a diary written by the
independence activist and journalist Jang Hyo-geun from 1916
to 1945. It was inscribed as a State-Registered Cultural Heritage
in 2018 in recognition of its historic value with information about
the independence movement during the Japanese colonial era.
The Declaration of Grand Alliance is a declaration released to urge
the alliance of independence activists and the establishment of a
provisional government. Jang wrote his diaries on “Joseonmillyeok,”
which was a solar calendar printed during the Japanese colonial era.
For conservation treatment of the diary, deacidification was
performed after dismantling, while repairing the damaged parts
with dyed mulberry-containing hanji, which is superior to Western
paper in terms of preservability, to restore it to its original state.
As the Declaration of Grand Alliance was also written on Western
paper susceptible to acidification, deacidification treatment
was performed, with the main text, cover, and damaged parts
reinforced
