Searching for a New ‘Contact Zone,’ Intangible Cultural Heritage: ‘Ssireum’ as Intangible Cultural Heritage

Since North Korea joined the ‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’ in 2008, within a decade South and North Korea jointly listed ‘Traditional Korean wrestling (Ssirum / Ssireum)’ as intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Internationally, South and North Korea seem to be competing; but through the joint listing of ‘Ssireum’ as ICH, the two demonstrated the ability to search for commonality to rescue them from their competition and still maintain their identity. We examine the impact of the ‘Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’ and the amendment of the Law on ICH in North Korea on the change of perception through the documents related to ‘Ssireum’ submitted for registration in 2015 and 2017. Intangible cultural heritage is very important in the interactions between South and North Korea because it closely relates to the identity of the community. In the field of intangible cultural heritage, South and North Korea will be able to create various ‘contact zones’ through this convention as a centerpiece.