Huh Min, administrator of the Korea Heritage Service, said North Korea's application for "Taekwon-Do, traditional martial art" was expected to receive a favorable recommendation from UNESCO's evaluation body.
The evaluation body reviews nominations for UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity before submitting recommendations to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The evaluation body's recommendations are expected to be released early this week, ahead of the committee's final decision at its 21st session, scheduled for Nov. 30 to Dec. 5 in Xiamen, China.
North Korea submitted its nomination in March 2024. South Korea followed on March 31, 2026, applying under the title "Taekwondo: A Dojang-centered Korean Training Tradition," with an emphasis on the transmission of martial arts skills, discipline and community values through traditional training centers.
The South Korean government had sought a joint inscription, following the precedent established when the two Koreas successfully registered traditional Korean wrestling, known as ssireum, with UNESCO in 2018.
"Given the current state of inter-Korean relations and other circumstances, a joint inscription is expected to be practically impossible at this point," Heo wrote on social media Monday, expressing regret over the situation.
He stressed, however, that a North Korean inscription would not give Pyongyang exclusive ownership of the martial art.
"Being the first to secure an inscription or submit a nomination does not grant exclusive rights to that heritage," Heo said.
He added that South Korea would continue efforts to secure recognition of its taekwondo tradition, either through an extension of an existing inscription or a separate nomination.
The 2018 joint inscription of ssireum was the first time UNESCO merged separate nominations from the two Koreas into a single recognition. UNESCO described the decision at the time as a symbolic step toward inter-Korean reconciliation.
North Korea currently has five elements on UNESCO's Representative List, including Arirang folk songs, kimchi-making traditions, ssireum, the Pyongyang Raengmyon custom and traditional Korean costume practices. Taekwondo would become its sixth if the nomination is approved.
South Korea, meanwhile, is also expected to receive a favorable recommendation this year for its nomination of traditional hanji papermaking knowledge, skills and cultural practices. If approved, hanji would become the country's 24th element on the list.
UNESCO has already recognized numerous martial arts, traditional wrestling disciplines and combat-related cultural practices worldwide.
South Korea's taekkyeon, characterized by fluid, rhythmic movements and kicking techniques, was inscribed in 2011. Brazil's capoeira circle, combining martial arts, dance and music, followed in 2014, while China's taijiquan, also known as tai chi, was added in 2020.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia's silat and Indonesia's traditions of pencak silat were separately inscribed in 2019. Cambodia's Kun Lbokator, a traditional martial art combining self-defense techniques with physical and mental discipline, gained recognition in 2022.
Other recognized traditions include Iran's Pahlevani and Zoorkhanei rituals and Türkiye's Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival, both inscribed in 2010; Kazakhstan's kuresi wrestling and Egypt's tahtib stick-fighting tradition, both added in 2016; and Georgia's chidaoba wrestling, recognized in 2018.
UNESCO also inscribed traditional Turkish archery in 2019 and Azerbaijan's Pehlevanliq culture, encompassing traditional wrestling, games and physical training, in 2022.
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