By Yoon Sojung
Photos = Cultural Heritage Administration
The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) on Nov. 26 said UNESCO has added three sets of historical documents to the world body's Memory of the World for Asia Pacific Regional Register, including "Naebang Gasa" (Song of the Inner Chambers) from the Joseon Dynasty era.
The latest additions means Korea has 22 sets of such records on the UNESCO list.
The other two sets are "Samguk Yusa" (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), a collection of records on ancient myths, folktales, history, religion, living and culture on the Korean Peninsula, and 200,000-plus documents on a massive oil leak that occurred on Dec. 7, 2007, off the coast of Taean-gun County, Chungcheongnam-do Province, and the ensuing cleanup.
The three items received their status after undergoing an evaluation at a general meeting of the ninth UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific from Nov. 24-26 in Andong, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.
"Naebang Gasa" is a collection of literary works mainly by women between the 18th and 20th centuries during the Joseon era, and the designation was mainly due to its record of how women viewed their country at the time and the process in which Hangeul became the official alphabet of society. CHA said the documents contain the views of women in a society utterly dominated by men in East Asia and female efforts to overcome their circumstances.
Written in 1281, the seventh year of the reign of King Chungnyeol of the Goryeo Dynasty, by the Buddhist monk Il Yeon (1206-89), "Samguk Yusa" contains the myths, history, lifestyles, religion and literature of the ancient kingdoms that preceded Goryeo including the Three Kingdoms of Silla, Baekje and Goguryeo and others like Garak State, Balhae and Buyeo.
CHA said these documents are free from the Sino-centric worldview in showing the independent identity of the Korean people rooted from the time of Dangun, the mythical founder of the Korean nation, and the Three Kingdoms era to the Goryeo period based on a Korean-centered view of history and Buddhism, CHA said.
The collection of more than 200,000 documents on the 2007 massive oil leak in Taean-gun and the cleanup process includes joint responses to the disaster between the public and private sectors, efforts at controlling the spill, volunteering, restoration of affected areas, repair of the environment and international cooperation in issues related to pollution caused by the incident.
CHA said the set was highly evaluated for documenting a case study in which the public and private sectors jointly overcame a large-scale environmental disaster.
Of the 19 other Korean items on the Memory of the World list, 16 including the Hangeul textbook Hunminjeongeum (The Proper Sounds for the Instruction of the People) and Joseonwangjo Silok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty) are listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The other three items are on the list for the Asia-Pacific region: royal signboards of the Joseon Dynasty, pyeonaek, a signboard installed under the entrance or eaves of an old house, and Maninso, a petition signed by 10,000 people in the Joseon era.
