Diverse Values of Intangible Heritage - A Comparative Perspective on the 2003 Convention and the New Intangible Heritage Safeguarding Law of South Korea

The introduction of the Act on the Safeguarding and Promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritagein 2015 is arguably the most significant change in the heritage protection scene of South Korea forthe last few years. Encompassing a series of innovative institutional changes that are expected toalleviate long-lasting problems with the intangible heritage protection policy of the country, the newintangible heritage act is touted as an effort to modify the national intangible heritage protectionsystem in tune with international standards, represented by the rules and provisions embodied in theUNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (adopted in 2003).This article first introduces an irreversible trend in the global heritage field toward an expansionin the concept of heritage and in the range of heritage values, and then puts in global perspectivethe meaning that the adoption of the 2003 Convention takes. Drawing on these internationaldevelopments, this article analyzes the extent to which the new intangible heritage protection systemlaunched by the new intangible heritage act reflects the principles of the 2003 Convention in terms ofthe scope of intangible heritage and the range of heritage values recognized in the system. By doingthis, this article strives to clarify the areas in which the new intangible heritage protection system issimilar to or different from the 2003 Convention and also to help understand the meaning of the newintangible heritage act from global perspectives. This article guards against the argument a nationalintangible heritage system should be made in sync with the international system; it rather attemptsto emphasize interactive relations between the national and the international.