'South Korea’s lotus lantern lighting festival inscribed as UNESCO world heritage '

South Korea’s lotus lantern lighting festival inscribed as UNESCO world heritage Yeondeunghoe(연등회), a lantern lighting festival in South Korea, was inscribed on(~에 이름이 새겨지 다) the UNESCO list of intangible cultural assets on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, we could not celebrate the listing on site together with Korean representatives and the Yeondeunghoe Preservation Committee, but we are really glad to see our representative festival Yeondeunghoe being listed after a nearly three-year journey,” head of the Cultural Heritage Administration Chung Jae-suk said in a statement. According to CHA, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage acknowledged(인정된) the inclusiveness(포괄성) of Yeondeunghoe, which contributes to(~에 기여하다) overcoming social boundaries and ultimately expressing cultural diversity(문화적 다양성). Chung also highlighted that it was especially meaningful that the committee pointed out(가리켰다_ Yeondeunghoe as a good example of how a single inscription can contribute to enhancing the public awareness of the significance of intangible cultural heritage in general. The agency explained that the application form that the CHA submitted at the time emphasized(강조 했다) the lantern lighting festival‘s value as a cultural festival for everyone in South Korea, although it was originally an event with a Buddhist significance. With this listing, the festival is now South Korea’s 21st intangible cultural asset inscribed on the UNESCO list. The most recent cultural heritage item inscribed as such was ssireum, or traditional Korean wrestling, which dates to the Three Kingdoms period, in 2018. Ssireum is also the two Koreas’ first jointly inscribed UNESCO world heritage item. “We will try to make Yeongdeunghoe a cultural heritage that can be loved by the people around the world regardless of(~에 상관없이) their religion,” Chung added.