The historic cookbooks Suunjapbang and Eumsikdimibang on Nov. 4 are presented at the general assembly of the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Korea Heritage Service)

By Uyen Nguyen

Records related to the Sewol ferry sinking in 2014 and manuscripts on traditional culinary knowledge have been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register.

The Korea Heritage Service on Nov. 5 said the Danwon High School April 16 Archive and Suunjapbang and Eumsikdimibang were officially inscribed at the general assembly of the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) from Nov. 3-5 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Of the 304 victims of the Sewol ferry disaster on April 16, 2014, 261 were from Danwon.

The archive comprises 235,220 items documenting the daily lives of Danwon students who died in the sinking, public memorial activities, and the efforts of their families and survivors to overcome and move on from the tragedy. UNESCO recognized the value of the very process of documentation of their pain as helping healing and recovery.

Suunjapbang is recognized as the country's first cookbook for the public, while Eumsikdimibang is considered the oldest and most complete surviving work of its kind written in Hangeul (Korean alphabet).

Korea now has 28 entries on the UNESCO Memory of the World -- 20 on the international list and eight on the Asia-Pacific one.

uyen81@korea.kr