The Supreme Court has sided with the Seoul city council regarding an amendment to an ordinance that eased development regulations outside cultural preservation zones, despite the lack of advance consultations with the state heritage agency.

On Thursday the top court confirmed the validity of the revised ordinance, approved in September 2023 by the Seoul Metropolitan Council, and dismissed a case filed by the then-culture minister seeking to have it nullified.

Under the Framework Act on National Heritage, municipal government leaders must consult with the chief of the Korea Heritage Service to preserve the historic cultural environment of designated heritage sites through zoning ordinances.

While the city’s ordinance set the boundaries of such zones 100 meters beyond the outer limits of national heritage sites, the city council approved the deletion of a provision that had limited construction outside the zones.

In its ruling, the court said the framework act does not require consultations with the heritage agency’s chief on ordinances for areas outside the preservation zones, and that the amendment does not violate the principle of statutory superiority under which higher-level legislation supersedes ordinances.