*This content was translated by AI.View Original
Taekwondo, our national martial art (국기), is set to be inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a heritage item submitted solely by North Korea.
According to the review results from the evaluation body under the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage announced on the 5th, “Traditional Martial Art of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – Taekwondo,” which was applied for solely by North Korea, received a recommendation for inscription on the Representative List.
Given the convention that recommendations from the evaluation body are typically adopted as-is at the final meeting unless there is an unexpected development, it is expected that North Korea’s sole inscription will be finalized at the 21st session of the Intergovernmental Committee, which opens in Xiamen, China, on the 30th.
With this, North Korea will hold its sixth intangible cultural heritage item inscribed solely by itself, following Arirang (2014), Kimchi-making (2015), Ssireum (jointly with South and North Korea in 2018), Pyongyang Naengmyeon (2022), and Traditional Korean Dress Customs (2024).
North Korea submitted its application for inscription solely in March 2024. The South Korean government, having belatedly aimed for joint inscription, submitted an application last March but failed to secure it.
On August 9, 2024, the National Heritage Service stated regarding North Korea’s sole inscription application that “inscription is not finalized by application alone. The government has not discussed or pursued joint South-North Korean inscription of taekwondo at the governmental level. It will provide support in accordance with domestic procedures going forward.”
This January, our government announced that it had resolved to apply for joint and extended inscription of taekwondo and submitted the application on March 31. However, extended inscription must undergo evaluation and review similar to new inscriptions. Furthermore, as consultations between the parties involved are also required, difficulties are anticipated.
National Heritage Service Director Heo Min shared news of the failure of joint inscription via social media (SNS) on the 2nd, stating, “While submitting the (taekwondo) application in March 2026, we have made efforts toward ‘joint inscription’ to expand South-North Korean exchanges and cooperation,” while adding that “due to various conditions including the current state of inter-Korean relations, ‘joint inscription’ will be virtually difficult at this point.”
In response, National Heritage Service spokesperson An Ho explained, “We decided to inform the public via social media out of a sense that we needed to let citizens know about the difficulties in the government’s role regarding joint taekwondo inscription.”
However, criticism is emerging, such as “Hasn’t the Republic of Korea, the home country of taekwondo, been stripped of taekwondo by North Korea?” and “The National Heritage Service’s delayed response.”
In this regard, the National Heritage Service pointed out on the 4th that “North Korea submitted a sole inscription application for taekwondo to UNESCO in March 2024. However, it is regrettable that the previous government did not take any particular response or effective measures at the time.”
Meanwhile, as a multi-inscription country under the operational guidelines for implementing the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, South Korea can secure one sole inscription every two years. In 2028, it aims for the inscription of ginseng culture.
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*This content was translated by AI.View Original
