UNESCO honors Korean wrestling

Divided for about seven decades, North and South Korea together won their first international recognition of Korean traditional wrestling as one of the world’s cultural treasures on Monday.

The Koreas had earlier pushed separate bids for the sport’s UNESCO recognition before merging their applications amid an easing of tensions this year. Local media reports said South Korea had first proposed the joint bid after a leaders’ summit at a Korean border village in April.

On Monday, UNESCO said Korean wrestling was added to a list of “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” on the basis of an application by the two Koreas.

“The joint inscription marks a highly symbolic step on the road to inter-Korean reconciliation,” UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. “It reminds us of the peace-building power of cultural heritage, as a bridge between peoples. This marks a victory for the longstanding and profound ties between both sides of the inter-Korean border.”

South Korean President Moon Jae In hailed the UNESCO inscription, calling it a “result of recent South-North cooperation.”

The South’s Cultural Heritage Administration said that the two Koreas have been given a new opportunity to further promote exchanges in the field of cultural heritage. It said in a statement the joint nomination is the “fruitful outcome of a meeting” between Moon and Azoulay in October.

UNESCO said during that meeting with Moon, Azoulay proposed a series of concrete projects involving UNESCO that would facilitate inter-Korean reconciliation. It said similar discussions also took place with North Korea in recent weeks.

“The commitment of UNESCO to facilitate peace between the two parties has led to the joint inscription in a short timeframe,” it said.