Three Items Including 'Samguk Yusa' Inscribed on UNESCO Memory of the World Register

‘Samguk Yusa’, ‘Naebang Gasa’, ‘Taean Oil Spill Recovery Records’ Inscribed on UNESCO
Total Domestic World Records Heritage Items Increase to 22

Samguk Yusa

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] ‘Samguk Yusa’, ‘Naebang Gasa’, and ‘Taean Oil Spill Damage Recovery Records’ have been finally registered on the UNESCO Memory of the World Asia-Pacific Regional Register.

The Cultural Heritage Administration announced that this decision was made at the 9th UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) General Meeting held from the 24th to the 26th in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

‘Samguk Yusa’ is a book compiled by the Goryeo monk Il-yeon in 1281 (the 7th year of King Chungnyeol of Goryeo) and is regarded as a comprehensive work including ancient myths, history, religion, daily life, and literature of the Korean Peninsula.

The handwritten ‘Naebang Gasa’, a collection of literary works by women of the Joseon Dynasty, was highly evaluated for recording the social awareness of women at the time and for showing the process of Hangul developing into an official social script.

The ‘Taean Oil Spill Damage Recovery Records’, which document the large-scale oil spill accident that occurred in Taean, Chungnam in December 2007 and the recovery process, were highly praised for illustrating a case where the public and private sectors cooperated to overcome a large-scale environmental disaster.

Including these three newly added heritage items, a total of twenty-two Memory of the World records are now held.

The Cultural Heritage Administration stated, “We will continue to actively discover valuable records that need to be preserved, expand the registration of Memory of the World, and widely promote Korea’s excellent record culture both domestically and internationally.”