North Korea's Mount Kumgang listed as UNESCO World Heritage site

Paris, July 13 North Korea's Mount Kumgang, a scenic mountain known for its beauty that changes with the seasons, has been named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage site.

UNESCO added Mount Kumgang to its World Heritage list following the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Paris on Sunday. The official name of the place entering the list is "Mt. Kumgang - Diamond Mountain from the Sea."

In May this year, the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which serve as advisory bodies to the World Heritage Committee, had recommended the inclusion of Mount Kumgang on the UNESCO World Heritage list, reported Yonhap news agency.

UNESCO's website describes Mount Kumgang as "a strikingly beautiful mountain with numerous peaks and curious rocks amounting to some 1,2000, 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," the website says.

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.

Mount Kumgang is North Korea's third World Cultural Heritage site, joining 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, a lyrical folk song in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" inscribed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

On July 12, a set of prehistoric rock carvings in southeastern South Korea was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list, the country's cultural agency announced.

The decision was made during the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Paris, where the "Petroglyphs along the Bangucheon Stream" were formally recognised for their outstanding cultural value.

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