G-Dragon: “Preserving the heritage is a matter of future peace”… Speech that lit up the UNESCO World Heritage Committee

Singer G-Dragon (GD), serving as the official ambassador of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, highlighted the meaning of preserving world heritage and the role of art. He emphasized the importance of solidarity and cooperation for cultural heritage protection, saying, "Protecting heritage is creating peace for the future."

G-Dragon took the stage at the opening ceremony of the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee held at BEXCO in Busan on the 19th and delivered a message on preserving world heritage.

He first offered greetings, saying, "I sincerely thank UNESCO, which has protected humanity's precious heritage for a long time, and everyone who is here with us today."

He then pointed out the significance of the host city, Busan. G-Dragon said, "Busan is an amazing city that has transformed the painful history of war in the past into a present-day home of peace and hope," adding, "Here, where the world's only UN Memorial Cemetery is located, we now want to make a new promise to protect world heritage together."

He viewed the value of preserving world heritage from the perspective of the future. "Protecting heritage is not preserving the past; it is creating peace for the future," he said, emphasizing, "I think art can also be a great force in protecting the world's heritage of the future."

He added, "Art moves the hearts of all of us, and when each of those hearts comes together, it can change the world. I also want to lend my support to protecting and preserving world heritage that is at risk of disappearing due to war and the climate crisis."

Finally, G-Dragon concluded his speech by saying, "As a popular artist, I hope that our small hearts, which began in Busan, will become a great stage of peace connecting the entire world."

That day, G-Dragon matched a white suit with a blue handkerchief and nail art patterned after the Taegeukgi, adding to the symbolism of the first World Heritage Committee held in Korea.

G-Dragon is also running the Heritage in Peace campaign with the Just Peace Foundation, where he currently serves as honorary chairman, to raise a world heritage protection fund.

Meanwhile, the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the highest decision-making body of the World Heritage Convention that determines world heritage inscription and preservation and management policies, will be held in Busan until the 29th.

At the meeting, 30 candidate sites for new world heritage inscription and 3 items such as boundary extensions and name changes for existing world heritage sites will be reviewed, and the conservation status of 147 existing world heritage sites will also be examined.

At home, the biggest point of interest is whether the second-stage expanded inscription of "Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats" will be approved. It is a proposal to add the tidal flats of Yeosu, Goheung, Muan, and Seosan to the tidal flats of Seocheon, Gochang, Sinan, Boseong, and Suncheon, which were inscribed as a world heritage site in 2021, and the site has already received a recommendation for expanded inscription from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an advisory body to UNESCO.

In addition, the preservation and interpretation status of Asuka, Fujiwara, the ancient capitals that Japan is seeking to inscribe, and the Sado Mine were included among the key agenda items for review.

Reporter Shin Jeong-won