As the basic principle of the cultural heritage policy is to preserve cultural heritage in its original state, when buried cultural assets are destroyed or rendered unusable as a result of a development project, the cost of the excavation performed for minimum record preservation must be borne by the person responsible (project implementer) (Article 11 of the Act on the Protection and Inspection of Buried Cultural Heritage).

However, the cost incurred from excavation prior to a development project can be burdensome for the project implementer. Accordingly, the government is implementing a financial aid program using a lottery fund for construction and development projects requiring small-scale excavation (Article 11 (3) of the Act on the Protection and Inspection of Buried Cultural Heritage and Article 10 of the Enforcement Decree of the Act).

In the case of the small-scale excavation support program, applicants have experienced inconveniences due to the need to personally hire an excavation agency and prolonged waiting periods. In order to solve these problems, the Cultural Heritage Administration entrusted the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation (Cultural Heritage Survey and Research Group) with the operation of the program on January 28, 2010. The purpose of this program is to reduce the project period for small-scale construction projects and relieve the financial burden from the excavation costs, in addition to effectively preserving and managing buried cultural assets.