The Korea Heritage Service seeks to jointly register the martial art taekwondo as UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity with North Korea. Shown is a gyeokpa (breaking) demonstration on July 11, 2025, at a taekwondo tournament hosted by Kyungmin University in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Lee Jeongwoo)

By Kang Gahui

The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) will seek to jointly register the martial art taekwondo as UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity with North Korea.

The KHS on Jan. 19 said its cultural heritage committee at a recent meeting selected taekwondo as the next candidate for joint or expanded inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The agency in March will submit the related application to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In March 2024, North Korea applied to register taekwondo under the name "Taekwon-Do, traditional martial art in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." The application is under review.

Regardless of Pyeongyang's application, the KHS will pursue joint application for inscription. Including the bid in its 2026 business plan, the agency seeks the second joint registration of its kind following ssireum (traditional wrestling) in 2018.

Based on the precedent set by ssireum, the KHS will first consider joint registration of taekwondo in December. Depending on the circumstances, it could also opt for an expanded approach in which the North is listed first on the Representative List followed by South Korea's participation.

kgh89@korea.kr