New National Intangible Heritages Listed in DPRK

Pyongyang, May 28 (KCNA) -- Some ten kinds of customs, acupuncture and traditional dishes were newly listed as national intangible heritages in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Among them are memorial services for King Tangun, cultivation of wild insam and Koryo insam. Memorial services for King Tangun, ancestral father of the Korean nation, have been held in October each year after the harvest. People of Koguryo Dynasty (B.C. 277-A.D.668) transplanted young wild insam or sowed its seed under trees in mountains from the middle of the 1st century B.C. There is a record that people of Paekje planted wild insam in forest at the end of the 1st century B.C. Insam, a specialty of Korea, began to be cultivated on fields from 11th-12th century in Kaesong. Insam is well known worldwide for its medicinal effect. Acupuncture listed as national intangible heritage is a traditional medical art that has been applied to diseases for thousands of years. The others include the habits of cooking cake with rice flour and wormwood paste, pancake with mung bean, gruel on winter solstice, as well as the method of brewing liquors. -0-