The Cultural Heritage Administration announced Tuesday that the agency will expand its support for buried cultural heritages next year with the aim of protecting South Korea’s historical sites, artifacts and monuments while relieving financial burdens for those whose projects involve small-sized buried heritages.

The CHA emphasized that the assistance for buried cultural heritages will include not only small-scale excavations, but also examination of buried sites prior to the uncovering procedures.

When a buried cultural heritage could be damaged or its preservation is deemed difficult due to construction, urban regeneration projects and more, a specific examination is required to protect the site's historical value for archival purposes.

Construction companies are responsible for both examination and excavation fees.

The CHA hopes to relieve the financial burden of those whose projects involve small-sized buried cultural heritage sites through subsidizing the cost of the examination and excavation.

The subsidy application can be made online at the the CHA’s customer service website after confirming the excavation plans with relevant local governments' cultural heritage committees.

The CHA’s assistance program for buried cultural heritage excavation began in December 2018.