文化財行政의 法的 限界와 國民의 權利

The Constitution Article 9 provides; “the State shall strive to sustain and develop the cultural heritage and to enhance national culture.” That means the protection of cultural properties is manifestly a constitutional matter for the state to have an obligation to take care of in Korea. No doubt, the protection of cultural properties is necessary for sustenance of the Korean national cultural identity. And also the Cultural Properties Protection Law is adopted precisely to fulfill that important Constitutional obligation of the state for the protection of cultural properties and world heritage. Therefore Cultural Properties Administration is established to implement the Cultural Properties Law and related policies. Generally after going through the Cultural Properties Protection Committee, the Cultural Property Preservation Bureau designates intangible cultural assets, human cultural assets etc. as important cultural properties according to the Cultural Properties Protection Law. However, the Cultural Properties Protection Law has some problems. First, the Law is not a good to protect cultural properties and contains some shortages or an insufficiently enacted provision. Second, the Law itself is not sufficiently or aggressively implemented unhindered by bureaucratic read tapes and mannerism. All people think that the state does not complete its constitutionally provided obligations of the protection for cultural properties with the Law alone. In the long run, the protection of cultural properties is dependent on a willingness of the citizens including the officials in charge, and we have to accept the legal theory of the Enjoyment Right of Cultural Properties, which is the heart of the matters in the policy-makings and laws for protection of cultural properties.