Korea expands heritage preservation to recent history
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The National Heritage Administration in Korea selected nine items from the past 50 years to recognize as preliminary cultural heritage.
Officials made the selections from over 18,000 submissions from organizations nationwide. This move broadens the definition of cultural heritage beyond ancient artifacts to include objects that document Korea’s rapid development in recent decades. The selected items represent diverse aspects of modern Korean life, including sports, typography, literature, labor movements and community organizing.
The Korea Baseball Organization received the highest honor for its handwritten founding master plan from 1981, a document created before the league’s official launch in 1982. This plan detailed the strategy for establishing Korea’s first professional sports league. Heritage officials initiated this expanded preservation effort with an annual contest to identify candidate artifacts. The contest began three years ago and aims to capture the narrative of a modernizing Korea.
By including items less than 50 years old, the administration hopes to preserve a more complete record of the country's recent past. The National Heritage Administration intends for these selections to reflect how various parts of Korean society contributed to the country’s modern identity. The nine winning items will now be considered for official designation as cultural heritage.
