Five municipal governments in the country’s southwestern regions held a joint ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate a recently-earned membership of UNESCO’s World Heritage status for the ancient kingdom that once ruled the regions.

North Jeolla Province, South Chungcheong Province, as well as three cities belonging to the provinces – Iksan, Gongju, and Buyeo – held the ceremony at the Mireuksa Temple Site, one of the Baekjae remains that were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in July.

During the ceremony, the local governments also unveiled a symbol object of the Baekje remains while the Cultural Heritage Administration delivered the UNESCO certificate to the heads of the municipal governments.

The municipal governments also announced a plan to upgrade their joint task force created to manage the Baekje remains into a Baekje global heritage center tasked with fostering the remains brimming with a treasure trove of Buddhist relics and Korea’s ancient royal tradition into a global tourist spot.

The Baekje global heritage center will also help preserve the Baekje remains.

The ancient areas made up of eight archaeological sites dating from 475 to 660 C.E. were inducted onto the World Heritage List during the 39th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany in July.