‘Belated’ measures as North Korean taekwondo nears UNESCO inscription... Unification Ministry and Heritage Administration coordinate

[Financial News] With the solo inscription of North Korean taekwondo on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity drawing near, the Ministry of Unification has decided to belatedly begin preparing measures in coordination with the Korea Heritage Service.
A Ministry of Unification official told reporters on the 5th that the ministry would work with the Korea Heritage Service to respond to the matter. He added, however, “It looks like North Korea will pursue a solo inscription for taekwondo.”
Attention is focused on what role the Ministry of Unification—which provided extensive support for matches played in South Korea by North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s FC—will play in a joint UNESCO inscription of North and South Korean taekwondo as intangible cultural heritage.
The Korea Heritage Service is consulting with the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as it asks UNESCO to support a joint North-South inscription. The government is exploring the possibility of a joint inscription for taekwondo, following the precedent set in 2018, when the two Koreas combined their separate applications for Ssireum and secured a joint inscription.
However, a joint inscription is expected to be difficult given that inter-Korean relations are currently at their worst. An “extended inscription,” adding South Korea’s transmission community to the same entry after North Korean taekwondo is first added to the list, is also under consideration. Since this would require the consent of North Korean authorities and the existing transmission community, follow-up steps can be taken only if inter-Korean consultations make progress.
The Evaluation Body under UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recommended that “Traditional martial art of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Taekwon-Do,” submitted by North Korea, be added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The final decision on inscription will be made at the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, to be held from November 30 to December 5 in Asunción, Paraguay, China. If the inscription is approved, North Korea’s intangible cultural heritage entries will increase to six, including Ssireum and Pyongyang naengmyeon. 
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