Digital Inventory and Documentation of Korea’s Important Cultural Properties Using 3D Laser Scanning

Abstract. As a country with 11 properties included on the World Heritage List and approximately 12,000 important cultural properties, Korea has been continuously carrying out the inventory and documentation of cultural properties to conserve and manage them since the 1960s. The inventory of cultural properties had been carried out by making and managing a register which recorded basic information mainly on state-designated cultural properties such as their size, quantity, and location. The documentation of cultural properties was also carried out by making measured drawings. However, the inventory and documentation done under the previous analog method had a limit to the information it could provide for the effective conservation and management of cultural properties. Moreover, in recent times important cultural properties have frequently been damaged by man-made and natural disasters such as arson, forest fires, and floods, so an alternative was required.

Accordingly, Korea actively introduced digital techniques led by the government for the inventory and documentation of important cultural properties. In this process, the government established the concept of a digital set, built a more efficie nt integrated data management system, and created standardized guidelines to maximize the effectiveness of data acquisition, management, and utilization that greatly increased the level of digital inventory, documentation, and archiving.