Sewol ferry sinking archive, ancient cookbooks added to regional UNESCO list
Summary
An archive documenting the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking and a collection of ancient Korean cookbooks were added to UNESCO’s Asia-Pacific Memory of the World list Thursday in Jakarta. The Sewol archive contains 235,220 records, including materials on the disaster and the recovery efforts of bereaved families and survivors. The Korea Heritage Service said it documents the harm to individuals, families and communities and their efforts to recover. A mother of a student victim said she hopes the archive will help educate future generations.
Key Facts
- The Sewol ferry sank on April 16, 2014, while traveling to Jeju, killing 304 passengers.
- Of the 325 Danwon High School students aboard for a school trip, 250 were killed.
- The archive includes a calendar collected from a Danwon High School classroom in April 2014.
- South Korea now has eight inscriptions on the Asia-Pacific regional list, which aims to preserve documentary heritage across the region.
- Countries may submit three applications for review every two years for the Asia-Pacific list.
A calendar for the month of April 2014 is seen at a classroom at Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
An archive documenting the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking and ancient Korean cookbooks have been added to a regional list of the UNESCO Memory of the World program Thursday.
The "Danwon High School 4.16 Archive: Records of Citizens' Memory and Healing Movements" was granted inscription at a general meeting of the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific held in Jakarta.
The "Suunjapbang and Eumsikdimibang: Community Archives of Traditional Korean Culinary Knowledge," another submission by South Korea, also made the list.
The Sewol archive comprises 235,220 pieces of records related to the maritime disaster on April 16, 2014, when the ferry sank en route to the southern resort island of Jeju, killing 304 passengers.
Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul, suffered one of the biggest casualties, with 250 of 325 students who were aboard the ferry for a school trip killed.
In addition to documents, including a calendar for the month of April 2014 collected from a classroom at the school, the archive includes those detailing the recovery of bereaved family of victims and survivors.
The Korea Heritage Service said the archive captures the wounds of individuals, families and the communities and their efforts for recovery.
Kim Soon-gil, a mother of student victim Jin Yoon-hee, said she hopes the archive goes beyond the inscription to teach and educate the future generation about the ferry sinking.
With the latest additions, South Korea now has eight inscriptions on the regional list aimed at preserving documentary heritage across the Asia-Pacific region, including a set of traditional wooden plaques and "Maninso" (10,000 people's petitions).
Countries can submit three applications to be reviewed every two years for the Asia-Pacific list.
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