Why 'Arirang' isn't listed among Korea's cultural assets – and why it soon will be thanks to the Chinese. Interesting article in the Chosun Ilbo http://bit.ly/jFz2MM with a counterblast by Roboseyo (Nobody owns Arirang) # [Read More]
Heritage Category: UNESCO (page 3)
New Korean heritage listings at UNESCO
The Archives of the Gwangju uprising, plus the Ilseongnok (account of Joseon kings’ daily lives) have just been listed in UNESCO Memory of the World http://bit.ly/lJNKdY # The Ilseongnok is designated as National Treasure No.153 [Read More]
2011 Travel Diary day 2: the Changdeokgung and Biwon
Seoul, Sunday 1 May 2011. In previous years I had been foiled in my attempts to get to see the famous Secret Garden behind the UNESCO-listed Changdeok Palace. Either there were building works going on, or access was only via guided tour and I had missed my slot, or some other obstacle was put in … [Read More]
Tripitaka Koreana is a copy, but an improvement on the original
Interesting article on the Tripitaka Koreana – an early example of Korean improvement on foreign intellectual property. http://bit.ly/fjShBC # [Read More]
A last look back at 2010
We’ve digested the albums, films, sporting events and books of the year, and reviewed some of the memorable stories of 2010 in our Quiz of the Year. Here are some of the other things we noted in 2010 which didn’t quite make it into any of those articles. 2010: a year of anniversaries It was … [Read More]
Three Korean traditions named world treasures
Three Korean traditions named world treasures: gagok (lyrical songs), daemokjang (wooden architectural craftsmanship) and maesanyang (falcon hunting). That UNESCO list keeps getting longer! http://bit.ly/9Ia99y # Daemokjang is Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No.74; Gagok is Important Intangible Cultural Heritage No.30 [Read More]
Five Royal Tombs. Destination: Seooreung (Goyang)
A few days ago LKL wrote about a Silla dynasty royal tomb in Sancheong County: the Last King of Kaya. Power K-blogger Chris Backe reports on a visit to five Joseon dynasty royal tombs in Goyang Just across the Seoul border rest some once-royal dead people. UNESCO certified as being significant to world culture, these … [Read More]
Hahoe and Yangdong listed at UNESCO
Congratulations to historic villages Hahoe and Yangdong, “two of the most representative historic clan villages in the Republic of Korea,” and Korea’s latest inclusion in the UNESCO world heritage list, on 31 July. http://bit.ly/cqjKEl # The BBC has some nice photos of both villages, plus other UNESCO sites listed along with them including Reunion Island … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #25: Heo Jun and Sancheong’s herbal heritage
Thursday 6 May 2010. The mayor hurries off for an appointment: not only is the Sancheong Medicinal Herb Festival in full swing, but elections are approaching in a month’s time. In fact I’m amazed he has found time to meet with this foreign blogger at all. He leaves the rest of us to finish the … [Read More]
Presenting intangible cultural heritage in Bucheon
Monday 3 May 2010. Bucheon, a city of around 850,000 people in Gyeonggi-do just 40 minutes’ drive West from Seoul, is home of the Bucheon World Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo (BICHE), an annual event which showcases some of Korea’s finest performance arts and crafts alongside those of a dozen or so invited countries. The first … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #8: The Jongmyo Rituals Part 2
Sunday 2 May 2010. As we file out from the shrine after the first ceremony of the day, we mingle with the butlers who are off to have a quick breather and cigarette before the next ceremony. Already the queues are forming to get into the main shrine for the headline event at 1pm. No … [Read More]
2010 Travel Diary #7: The Jongmyo Rituals, part 1
Sunday 2 May 2010. I found it really quite hard to find accessible information online in respect of the Jongmyo rituals. Often, on the UNESCO site, there is documentation which sets out why the submitting country thinks that this particular intangible cultural property is worthy of inscription on the international list. But no such information … [Read More]
A belated look back at 2009
For the past 3 years LKL has concocted a quiz of the year as a way of gathering together some of the news stories which have most caught our eye. This year, as I came to draw up the list in mid December I found it hard to think of anything amusing or diverting: most … [Read More]
Before Babylon There Was…Pyongyang
Two thirds of the world’s dolmens are contained in the Korean peninsula. The Gochang, Hwaun, and Ganghwa dolmen sites can be found on the UNESCO World Heritage list. This probably begs the question, from me at least – what are dolmens exactly? They are stone monuments, generally consisting of two supporting stones and a cover stone … [Read More]
Meeting more Mr Kims: CoolstuffKorea on Cheju Island
Jennifer Barclay, LKL contributor and author of Meeting Mr Kim, has landed herself a dream assignment for the Korean Tourism Organisation: tweet about Korea, travel round Korea, write about Korea on Facebook, generally do things we’d all like to be doing, and maybe earn a little bit of pocket money as well. Nice one, Jen. … [Read More]
Jongmyo skyscraper may irk UNESCO
Seoul’s skyscraper may irk UNESCO, according to the Korea Times. A new 36-storey building could mean Jongmyo Shrine loses world heritage status: http://bit.ly/oiEuJ # [Read More]