24 Korean cultural items designated as Chinese national intangible heritage

Signboard in Heilongjiang Province called 'shocking'

An Arirang information signboard in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, China. [Captured from Professor Seo Kyung-duk's social media]
An Arirang information signboard in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, China. [Captured from Professor Seo Kyung-duk's social media]

Calls are growing for the South Korean government to take stronger action as China has designated dozens of items tied to Korean traditional culture — including Arirang, pansori, chuseok and ssireum wrestling — as national intangible cultural heritage.

Sungshin Women's University professor Seo Kyung-duk shared on social media Monday the findings of a comprehensive research report on China's cultural appropriation of Korean traditions, which Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Yun-deok, a member of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, had obtained from the Cultural Heritage Administration.

According to the report, as of August 2025, China had designated a total of 24 items related to the Joseonjok — ethnic Koreans in China — as national intangible cultural heritage across the three northeastern provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang.

The list includes Arirang, pansori, chuseok, kimchi-making, ssireum wrestling, janggo drum dancing, crane dancing, farmers' music and dance, gayageum, traditional dress and the 60th-birthday ceremony.

Seo said he found a photograph in the report of an Arirang information signboard installed in Zhongxing Village, Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, to be "truly shocking." The signboard claims that Arirang originated as a song sung by people who migrated from the continent to the Korean Peninsula after Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty established the Four Commanderies of Han, expressing longing for their homeland.

The claim amounts to an assertion that Arirang — the beloved folk song embodying the joys and sorrows of the Korean people — in fact has its roots in Chinese culture.

Seo said the episode "clearly exposes the reality of China's cultural appropriation campaign, and the time has come for the government to respond actively." He added that China is likely to attempt to register these items as UNESCO World Heritage sites after first claiming them as its own national cultural heritage.


jshan@heraldcorp.com