The decision to dismantle the sculptures was made for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the citizens due to the critical conditions of the sculptures and a considerable loss in the cohesiveness of the ensemble.
The decision to dismantle the sculptures was made by the Committee for Beautification of St. Petersburg together with the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg with immediate consultations with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in St. Petersburg for the purpose of ensuring the safety of the citizens due to the critical conditions of the sculptures and a considerable loss in the cohesiveness of the ensemble.
The critical condition was confirmed by the expert assessment of the wood and the mycological analysis performed by the Federal State Budget Educational Establishment of Higher Professional Education “St. Petersburg State Forest Technical University under name of S.M. Kirov”.
The experts came to the conclusion that “the wood is in an unsatisfactory condition caused by wood-destroying fungi. The swamped part of the trunks contains wide cracks which allow moisture to reach the deep levels. The wood has completely lost its macrostructure, density and strength. Thus, reconstructing the sculptures does not seem possible, as the wood has completely lost its physical and mechanical properties and is affected by a dangerous wood-destroying fungus.”
The dismantling procedure was performed by Park and Garden Maintenance Enterprise “Vyborgskoye” in the presence of representatives from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in St. Petersburg and the Committees.
At the moment, the Committee for External Relations of St. Petersburg is conducting negations with the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in St. Petersburg concerning the implementation of a new project of creating and locating small architectural forms of South Korean culture on the territory of the city.