South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration in Myanmar held a ceremony on Monday to present four booklets on Korea’s mural conservation and management to Myanmar’s cultural authorities.

Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture of Myanmar Aung Ko, the director of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, South Korea’s ambassador to Myanmar Lee Sang-hwa and Head of the Bagan Office of the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation Kim Dong-min attended the event at the Bagan Archaeological Museum on Monday.

The manuals will be widely used for training local government officials and workers who are conserving and managing cultural properties in Myanmar’s ancient city of Bagan. As an expression of appreciation, Myanmar presented the CHA with a plaque of appreciation.

Bagan, which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2019 in recognition of its unique Buddhist culture, is one of the locations where the Korean cultural heritage agency has been conducting the New Southern Cultural Heritage ODA project.

Passing on the mural conservation manuals was part of the first phase of the project.

Along with assisting in the restoration work at Payathonzu Temple in Minnanthu, which was damaged by a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in 2016, the CHA has provided support in Bagan’s application for the World Heritage inscription.

The CHA also announced its plan to assist in a historical village construction project in Minanthu village, as part of the ODA project’s second phase which will be conducted from 2021 to 2025.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)