N. Korea unilaterally applies for taekwondo's inscription as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

North Korea has unilaterally applied to list taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art, as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, the UNESCO website showed Friday.

The North submitted an application to the UNESCO headquarters in March to include taekwondo on the ICH list, according to the UNESCO website.

UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is expected to decide on the application in 2026, after assessing taekwondo's qualifications for inscription.

Pyongyang's move comes despite the South Korean taekwondo authority's plan to jointly list the sport on the ICH list.

Choi Jae-chun, chief of an organization pursing the co-listing, told Yonhap News Agency over the phone that the North made the move independently despite a previous agreement between taekwondo bodies of the two sides to push for a joint inscription.

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 pushing for the martial art's listing as a UNESCO intangible cultural asset.

Seoul's Korea Heritage Service later issued a press release, explaining that no government-level discussions have taken place between the two Koreas regarding a joint push for the listing.

"Getting an inscription on the ICH list first, or applying for it first, does not mean securing exclusive recognition for (taekwondo)," the KHS said.

North Korea currently has four items on the ICH, including the traditional Korean wrestling ssireum, the custom of making the preserved side dish kimchi and the Arirang folk song.

Among those, ssireum was listed under the names of the two countries through a joint effort for the first time. (Yonhap)