N. Korea's Mount Kumgang likely to win UNESCO World Heritage status after 4-year bid

SEOUL, 27 May (BelTA - Yonhap) - North Korea's Mount Kumgang is likely to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site following a four-year application process, according to UNESCO on Tuesday.

Mount Kumgang has long been regarded as one of Korea's most scenic mountains for its breathtaking beauty that changes with the seasons.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which serve as advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee, have recommended the inclusion of Mount Kumgang on the UNESCO World Heritage list, according to UNESCO.

The official name submitted by North Korea is Mt. Kumgang - Diamond Mountain from the Sea.

On UNESCO's website, the mountain is described as "a strikingly beautiful mountain with numerous peaks and curious rocks amounting to some 12,000, waterfalls and pools formed by crystal-like clear waters flowing from hundreds of gorges, as well as with the seascape stretched along the coastline."

"Mt. Kumgang is permeated with numerous legends and cultural relics handed down through generations," it added.

North Korea submitted its application for World Heritage inscription in 2021, but the site's review was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The evaluation resumed this year.

 North Korea is said to have initially applied for the site to be recognized as both a cultural and natural heritage site, but the advisory bodies recommended it be listed as a cultural landscape.

If inscribed, it will become North Korea's third World Cultural Heritage site, following the Complex of Koguryo Tombs inscribed in 2004 and the Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong in 2013.

In 2014, North Korea also had "Arirang, lyrical folk song in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" inscribed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.