North Korea’s bid to place taekwondo on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is expected to pass as a sole inscription at the UNESCO committee session opening the 30th in Xiamen, China — a result that would put the martial art on the global heritage list under North Korea’s name alone while South Korea presses for a joint or later extension listing, Newsis reported.
The 21st session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity includes 24 member states. North Korea’s application — “Traditional martial art of the DPRK: Taekwondo” — sits as item 7b alongside South Korea’s hanji, Korean handmade paper, with deliberations on that item scheduled for Dec. 1–3.
A sole inscription looms for Pyongyang
The committee’s draft decision states that North Korea’s taekwondo meets the requirements for the Representative List, citing exchange among practitioners, cultivation of community spirit, the importance of intangible cultural heritage, reflection of cultural diversity, social integration, women’s empowerment and a solid transmission system.
The draft specifically noted that “from the conception stage, practitioners, representative institutions, organizations and individuals participated,” and that the application “closed with the active support of a broad taekwondo community that participated continuously at every stage.” The committee also praised the fact that taekwondo appears on North Korea’s national intangible cultural heritage list — a contrast with South Korea, where only “Jeonbuk sparring taekwondo” is registered, and only on a provincial intangible heritage list.
Seoul sought a joint listing in April and June
South Korea’s National Heritage Administration sent an official letter to the UNESCO secretary-general in April, and the Ministry of Unification followed with its own letter in June, both on pursuing a joint inscription of taekwondo.
What the application claims
North Korea’s dossier describes taekwondo as comprising 3,200 movements, 24 poomsae — patterns expressing historical figures and events — and six types of sparring, along with training of body and mind and self-defense. It says practice is open regardless of physical condition, age, gender or location, and that it cultivates justice, patriotism and resilience. Ranks run across 10 grades and nine dans, and the art is passed down through a master-apprentice system among many practitioners. The major bodies in the North are the Choson Taekwondo Federation and the Choson Taekwondo Committee.
The application states that participants are not discriminated against based on age, gender, political views, religious beliefs or nationality, and lists as advantages solving health problems, children’s physical development and strengthening women’s social status.
North Korea links taekwondo to Goguryeo murals
In a 2022 renewal of its national intangible cultural heritage list, North Korea traced the martial art’s origins to Goguryeo, citing a mural in Anak Tomb No. 3 in Hwanghae-namdo showing two soldiers in a ssireum bout, and noting references in the “Cheongguyeong-eon” to many people enjoying taekgyeon, a traditional Korean martial art. The dossier argues this tradition, which it says played a major role in resisting foreign invasion, was developed into modern taekwondo in the mid-20th century by Choi Hong Hi, the first president of the International Taekwondo Federation, and that ITF activities have spread the art to more than a hundred countries.
A 2023 consent letter from the Choson Taekwondo Federation calls taekwondo “a heritage our people created and developed historically.” The application also contains regime references, stating that Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il guided the art’s spread and that Kim Jong Un has instructed that national traditions be revived and taekwondo encouraged across society.
Deliberations open Dec. 1
Item 7b — North Korea’s taekwondo and South Korea’s hanji — is set for Dec. 1–3 within the session’s 19 total agenda items.
Questions about the Xiamen session
Who is chairing the session?
Gao Zheng, vice minister of China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is chairing the 21st session in Xiamen.
Which countries sit on the committee?
The 24 member states are Albania, Algeria, Barbados, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Japan, Mali, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, the Philippines, Spain, Uganda, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Zambia.
How much of the agenda concerns the Representative List?
Of the session’s 19 agenda items, including opening and closing, seven concern inscriptions on the Representative List, among them North Korea’s taekwondo and South Korea’s hanji.