Heritage preservation in South Korea

The program also includes Living National Treasures, persons who possess the knowledge and skills important to pass down intangible cultural heritage to new generations.

South Korea has founded several educational centers throughout the country and established a university, specifically dedicated to heritage preservation.

Although the program is considered successful by both the public and experts, there are unresolved issues regarding the system and particularly the selection method of "living national treasure" holders.

The act was amended in 1970 not only to include people (인간문화재, ingan munhwajae, "human cultural heritage") but also to support them financially.

Go Sangnyeol (고상렬), the administrator of CHA between 1961 and 1968 set out to search for intangible cultural properties on the basis of a series of articles written by Yae Yonghae (예용해) for Hankook Ilbo, as the reporter spent years in exploring the country and interviewing old masters of handicraft.

[13] Major stakeholders of the intangible heritage program are "living national treasures"[13] or officially called "holders" (보유자 boyuja),[12] people who possess knowledge or skills essential for preserving Korean culture.

Some of these 'holders' obtained significant national exposure or fame,[13] for example Han Bongnyeo (한복려), a holder for the Korean royal court cuisine who supervises the authentic presentation of Joseon Dynasty food in historical movies and television series.

[15][16] The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage took place in 2003 and South Korea joined the program a year later.

The CHA decided that they also had to broaden the scope of intangible heritage to properties that do not have any designated 'holders', like kimchi, hangul or Goryeo ginseng.

Thus items like Yuna Kim's skates she wore at the 2010 Winter Olympics and the first train operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Subway in 1974 are also designated as cultural assets.

[33] There are nine cultural and one natural world heritage sites in South Korea as of 2013, with 15 additional items on the provisional list.

Since 2009 the CHA changed its selection process by involving academic professionals to introduce a more objective evaluation system of "holders".

Patriarchal lifestyle, where the man is the main provider of the family and women stay at home, also influenced "holders", as housewives started to pick up the preservation of folk traditions also in areas that were previously dominated by men.