The National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage (NRIMCH) (Director Kim Yeonsoo) won the bid to host the 5th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage (APCONF) in 2023.
NRIMCH has been taking part in APCONF since the first series hosted in Manila, the Philippines in 2011 as one of the institutes specialized in investigation and research in underwater cultural heritage. NRIMCH has been asking for support to host APCONF in South Korea since the 3rd conference in 2017. South Korea was announced as the next host country at the 4th APCONF in Taiwan in November 2nd 2021.
APCONF is one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field of underwater cultural heritage in accompany with International Congress for Underwater Archaeology(IKUWA : Internationaler Kongreß für Unterwasserarchäologie). The conference is hosted every 3-years in turn. The experts and students from 48 countries in Asia-Pacific regions join together to keep current with the latest survey, research, and technology of underwater cultural heritage. The conference aims to address management and protection strategies of underwater cultural heritage and to provide a forum for discussion of technical and ethical issues related to underwater cultural heritage.
The theme and venue for the conference have yet to be decided upon, but NRIMCH will develop the plan by the first half year of 2023 and will build a cooperative system with related organizations including UNESCO and universities with the same interest.
Source: Culture Heritage Administration