North Korean joy as Kaesong listed as world heritage
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2013, Monday
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Print Edition
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MONUMENTS from North Korea's medieval city of Kaesong and a dozen Renaissance villas built by Italy's powerful Medici family have been granted World Heritage status by UNESCO.
Ahead of their annual meeting in Phnom Penh, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization committee session listed 12 monuments - including tombs, fortress walls and a 700-year-old school - at Kaesong as World Heritage sites.
The monuments "embody" the Koryo dynasty which unified the Korean Peninsula for the first time, and its "political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values" of the kingdom, UNESCO said.
As the decision was announced, several North Korean delegates stood and applauded, with one unfurling a national flag.
Thanking UNESCO, one of the North Koreans hailed the "joyful occasion" in a brief statement to the auditorium.
The Kaesong monuments - including sections of defensive walls - have survived repeated assaults on the city, which served as the seat of the Koryo kings who ruled in 918-1392.
They are several kilometers from a jointly run industrial park which has been closed since April.
Hailing Kaesong's "outstanding universal value," UNESCO said the monuments "are exceptional testimony to the unified Koryo civilization as Buddhism gave way to neo-Confucianism in East Asia."
Kaesong was established in 919 as capital of the Koryo dynasty, which gave its name to the modern state of Korea.
The dynasty is credited with creating a unified national identity for the first time.
When the Korean Peninsula was partitioned along the 38th parallel after World War II, Kaesong was in South Korea. During the 1950-53 Korean War, it came under North Korean control and remained so until the end of the conflict.
Constructed outside Florence, the Medici villas and their gardens were commissioned by the Tuscan banking dynasty instrumental in the politics and culture of Renaissance-era Italy.
"The economic, financial and political fortunes of the Medicis were behind extensive patronage that had a decisive effect on the cultural and artistic history of modern Europe," UNESCO said.
Over the past few days, UNESCO has granted World Heritage status to more than a dozen natural wonders and cultural gems, including two volcanoes - Japan's Mount Fuji, known for its perfect cone-shape, and Italy's Mount Etna - as well as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan and the Namib Sand Sea.
Yesterday, it also afforded heritage status to the ruins of an ancient city constructed by Dorian Greeks in Ukraine and the Hercules monument and water features in Germany.
Ahead of their annual meeting in Phnom Penh, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization committee session listed 12 monuments - including tombs, fortress walls and a 700-year-old school - at Kaesong as World Heritage sites.
The monuments "embody" the Koryo dynasty which unified the Korean Peninsula for the first time, and its "political, cultural, philosophical and spiritual values" of the kingdom, UNESCO said.
As the decision was announced, several North Korean delegates stood and applauded, with one unfurling a national flag.
Thanking UNESCO, one of the North Koreans hailed the "joyful occasion" in a brief statement to the auditorium.
The Kaesong monuments - including sections of defensive walls - have survived repeated assaults on the city, which served as the seat of the Koryo kings who ruled in 918-1392.
They are several kilometers from a jointly run industrial park which has been closed since April.
Hailing Kaesong's "outstanding universal value," UNESCO said the monuments "are exceptional testimony to the unified Koryo civilization as Buddhism gave way to neo-Confucianism in East Asia."
Kaesong was established in 919 as capital of the Koryo dynasty, which gave its name to the modern state of Korea.
The dynasty is credited with creating a unified national identity for the first time.
When the Korean Peninsula was partitioned along the 38th parallel after World War II, Kaesong was in South Korea. During the 1950-53 Korean War, it came under North Korean control and remained so until the end of the conflict.
Constructed outside Florence, the Medici villas and their gardens were commissioned by the Tuscan banking dynasty instrumental in the politics and culture of Renaissance-era Italy.
"The economic, financial and political fortunes of the Medicis were behind extensive patronage that had a decisive effect on the cultural and artistic history of modern Europe," UNESCO said.
Over the past few days, UNESCO has granted World Heritage status to more than a dozen natural wonders and cultural gems, including two volcanoes - Japan's Mount Fuji, known for its perfect cone-shape, and Italy's Mount Etna - as well as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan and the Namib Sand Sea.
Yesterday, it also afforded heritage status to the ruins of an ancient city constructed by Dorian Greeks in Ukraine and the Hercules monument and water features in Germany.
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