South Korea aims for joint UNESCO listing of taekwondo with North Korea

The Korea Heritage Service said Wednesday that it will seek to have taekwondo recognized as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, expressing its intention to pursue a joint nomination with North Korea.

The government agency responsible for cultural heritage said it aims to submit its application for the Korean martial art in March, following Pyongyang’s separate application to UNESCO in March 2024. The evaluation and final decision are expected next year. The move comes as part of the Korea Heritage Service’s 2026 initiative.

This is not the first time the martial art has been under discussion for cross-border recognition. In 2018, officials from South Korea’s World Taekwondo and North Korea’s International Taekwondo Federation held a meeting in Pyongyang to discuss cooperation in pursuing UNESCO listing. The Korea Heritage Service later issued a press release in August 2024, explaining that no government-level discussions had taken place between the two Koreas regarding a joint push for the listing.

The two Koreas have previously submitted separate applications for ssireum, traditional Korean wrestling. South Korea submitted its application in March 2016, following North Korea’s submission in March 2015, and UNESCO jointly inscribed the sport in 2018.

Other UNESCO heritage plans in the pipeline include submitting an application for the Capital Fortifications of Hanyang, or Hanyangdoseong, a series of 18th-century fortifications built to defend Hanyang, the capital of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).

Traditional hanji paper-making, encompassing the knowledge, skills and practices involved in creating the paper, will be evaluated for inclusion on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2026, at the 21st session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Korea Heritage Service also plans to focus on preserving the areas surrounding World Heritage sites, supporting the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting scheduled for July 2026, and expanding the global reach of Korean cultural heritage. The agency aims for an average annual growth of 7.5 percent in the industry, targeting a cumulative market size of 100 trillion won from 2026 to 2030.