North Korea is likely to register Taekwondo as UNESCO... National Heritage Administration “Promotes Korean Taekwondo through SNS”

As it is certain that North Korea's Taekwondo will be registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity next month, National Heritage Administration Director Heo Min stated, "We will actively promote Korea's Taekwondo on social networking services (SNS)."

Commissioner Heo met with reporters at the Donhwamun Gate repair site at Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul on the 9th and said, "We will recruit Taekwondo public relations ambassadors around the world through SNS and actively work with private organizations to inform people that Korea is the country of suzerainty."

Commissioner Heo added, “We will cooperate at the government level and continue to promote (Korea’s Taekwondo and its origins) at various world championships and Taekwondo competitions.”

Commissioner Heo visited the Donhwamun construction site in person and apologized for the controversy caused by pre-announcement of the registration evaluation results on his SNS before UNESCO's official announcement.

Until now, the National Heritage Administration (formerly the Cultural Heritage Administration) or the Director-General has never previously announced the results of the evaluation for registration of UNESCO World Heritage, Memory of the World, or Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Commissioner Heo explained that several organizations related to Taekwondo are active, saying, “I was afraid (the results) would come out in an unrefined state, so although it was a lame excuse, I tried to prevent it in advance.”

He mentioned a specific organization that worked to promote UNESCO registration and said, "I kept getting stories and requests through KakaoTalk," and "I couldn't help it."

Commissioner Heo also reiterated the previous position that the Yoon Seok-yeol government did not take any special measures when North Korea independently applied for registration in 2024.

Commissioner Heo pointed out, “I don’t think the government at the time was active at all.”

He emphasized the current government's efforts, saying, "As soon as I took office (as Commissioner) in July of last year, I met with Taekwondo-related organizations and met with the Secretary-General of UNESCO three times."

He explained that through 'active efforts', the Korean government was able to submit an application for registration of Taekwondo in March of this year in consultation with five organizations, including the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, Kukkiwon, Korea Taekwondo Association, Korea Taekwondo UNESCO Promotion Group, and Jeonbuk Kyorugi Taekwondo Preservation Society.

However, according to the report on 'Progress of Taekwondo's registration as UNESCO's Intangible Heritage of Humanity' released by the National Heritage Administration, UNESCO judged that it is difficult to jointly register Taekwondo under the current situation.

The National Heritage Administration reported that UNESCO sent a letter to the Korean government in August this year stating, "As of now, Taekwondo does not meet the conditions for joint registration."

If intangible cultural heritage exists in common with two or more countries, in order to include it on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, the countries must submit a joint application for registration.

In the case of Ssireum, which was registered jointly by North and South Korea, North Korea submitted an application in 2015 and South Korea submitted an application in 2016, but North Korea was judged to have 'supplemented information' and was able to be reviewed in the same year.

According to the National Heritage Administration, UNESCO was found to have included in the letter that, subject to North Korea's consent, 'discussions such as expanded registration are possible depending on the results of North Korea's Taekwondo review this year.'

When it was pointed out that the conclusion that joint registration was difficult was reached early on, the Commissioner said, "We worked for a year on three tracks: joint registration, expanded registration, and independent registration."

He said, “UNESCO said it would play a significant role in North and South Korea, the only divided countries in the world, but there was no response from North Korea in the process.”

He also added, “The National Heritage Office cannot handle inter-Korean issues alone,” and added, “We officially conveyed our position on joint registration through diplomatic letters and in close consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification.”

The National Heritage Administration is also considering an expanded registration in which North Korea first registers Taekwondo and then revises the scope or content of the heritage, but the situation is not favorable.

Expanded listing requires the consent of the relevant country first.

Korea has developed Taekwondo as a 'sport' and distributed it to the world, led by the World Taekwondo Federation (WT), and even adopted it as an official event in the Asian Games and Olympics.

On the other hand, North Korea, which has led the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF), is known to have emphasized the training discipline of traditional martial arts and direct striking techniques using hands and feet.

When asked if there was a possibility that North Korea would accept expanded registration, Commissioner Heo replied, "It may not be easy," and added, "We do not know when the situation in South and North Korea will change, so we plan to proceed with expanded registration and independent registration."

Whether or not North Korea's Taekwondo will be registered will be confirmed at the 21st Intergovernmental Committee (Intangible Heritage Committee) of the Convention on the Protection of Intangible Heritage, held in Xiamen, China, from the 30th of this month to December 5th.

This year, Korea is attempting to be registered with ‘traditional knowledge, technology, and cultural practice of Hanji production.’