2012-11-05 10:07

'Arirang' recommended for UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage

Korea's traditional folk song "Arirang" has been recommended to be listed as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by a UNESCO subsidiary body that has examined nominations from countries around the world, the Seoul government said Monday.

The subpanel of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recommended Arirang be inscribed onto the list after screening 36 nominations, Seoul's Cultural Heritage Administration said.

A final decision will be made in the main committee meeting set to be held from Dec. 3-7 at the U.N. body's headquarters in Paris, the agency said.

South Korea currently has 14 items on the UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, including the Royal Ancestral Rite and Ritual Music at the Jongmyo Shrine, which the kings of the Joseon Dynasty used in ancestral memorial ceremonies, and "pansori," a traditional Korean style of narrative song.

The subpanel highly rated Arirang for having been constantly recreated generation after generation, playing an important role in forming an identity of Koreans and consolidating unity among them, according to Seoul officials.(Yonhap)