Dinosaur expert seeks to redefine Unesco's role at this year's heritage committee A turning point Beyond palaces and royal tombs

Huh Min is a dinosaur expert. He even has a dinosaur named after him, thanks to his contributions to Korea's paleontology.

That made his appointment as chief of the Korea Heritage Service last year quite unexpected. Many wondered what a scholar best known for studying prehistoric life could contribute to the agency overseeing the nation's heritage — especially since 2026 marks a critical milestone in South Korea's cultural diplomacy, with the country to host the 48th session of Unesco's World Heritage Committee in Busan.

His paleontological background, however, is actually proving helpful.

As a pioneer of dinosaur research in South Korea, Huh has spent at least 25 years working closely with Unesco to excavate, promote and preserve sites of dinosaur remains in the country. Notably, he led the inscription of fossilized dinosaur sites along South Korea's southern coast on Unesco's Tentative List of World Heritage sites in 2002.

"People thought of Korea as a country without dinosaurs, but that perception changed after Korean scholars began publishing world-class papers," Huh said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the agency's headquarters in Daejeon on June 29.

"The site on South Korea's southern coast was extremely well preserved, and I thought that it deserved greater global recognition, which is why I pushed for the listing."



That same tenacity will be put to work when South Korea hosts the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan from July 19 to 29. This marks the first time that the nation has organized the event since becoming a member of the World Heritage Convention in 1988.

Huh intends to use this year's forum as an opportunity to redefine how people view Unesco and the committee — not simply as a body that designates World Heritage sites, but as a global forum where experts come together to tackle the various challenges facing those sites today.

South Korea, he believes, can lead that conversation.

To put that ambition into action, Huh has a few concrete plans.

Until now, the World Heritage Committee has been known largely for inscribing new World Heritage sites — a role that has at times drawn scrutiny regarding the system's legitimacy and relevance.



"With wars such as the one in Afghanistan years ago and in Ukraine now, and with climate change slowly submerging small islands, cultural heritage is being destroyed — and a single country cannot fix that," he said.

"Unesco can't keep saying 'preserve this [heritage]' or pointing out what's been done wrong. We must solve [the problem] together. That's why I'm proposing [adding] collaboration as a major agenda item at this session."

His proposal will be put into practice first in South Korea when the committee convenes later this month.

A multinational seminar on getbol, or mudflats, near the Yellow Sea will take place on July 25, with North Korea and China invited, Huh said.



"It would be really nice to have North Korea attend, but if things don't work out, it would attend by video, according to the Unesco World Heritage Centre," he said.

Huh envisions a discussion in which the three countries bordering the Yellow Sea's tidal flats consider ways to jointly research migratory birds' flight paths and wetlands to find better preservation methods.

"We will discuss how to hand down World Heritage to future generations."

China had its own tidal flats along the Yellow Sea coast and Bohai Gulf inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2019. North Korea, too, added its wetlands near Mundok County to its Tentative List earlier this year.

"By discussing the getbol that extends from South Korea to North Korea and China […] we will examine not only the ecological excellence of the tidal flats and the science of their conservation but also our migratory birds' flyways — all while considering how we can hand down our World Heritage to future generations," Huh said.

During the committee, South Korea's recently inscribed petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream ...