Today's News

Shortly ago, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition-2026 took place on picturesque Moran Hill in Pyongyang.

On display at the show were more than 140 ICH elements presented by over 90 units.

According to Jo Il Gyong, section chief of the National Administration of History and Heritage, the recent event drew larger numbers of participating units and exhibits than last year.

It started with a performance featuring such colourful numbers as folk songs, folk dances and national instrumental music and the powerful and vigorous movements of the Korean orthodox martial art of Taekwon-Do. It retained its distinctive features, arousing great interest throughout.

The ICH elements created by the Korean ancestors were on show in the forms of books, videos, visual aids and goods.

The booth of Kim Il Sung University exhibited more than 50 kinds of books introducing the customs and folk traditions of the Koreans, including "The History of Korean Housing Customs", "The History and Culture of Mt Kumgang" and "The Story of Sondal Kim, alias Phoenix". A lecturer of the History Faculty of the university gave an explanation of folk stories, enabling the visitors to vividly picture the life of ancient people.

Visitors were fascinated by the mysterious and elegant Koryo celadon at the booth of the Mansudae Art Studio which displayed various kinds of ceramics showing the level of the world-famous Koryo celadon workmanship.

Meanwhile, the booths of Okryu and Chongnyu restaurants were crowded with visitors every day as they introduced such foods as Pyongyang cold noodles, sinsollo (a traditional dish in cooking brazier), terrapin dish, yakpap (healthy sweet rice), mung-bean pancake, casserole, Pyongyang onban (a dish of rice in hot chicken broth), sujonggwa (dried persimmon punch), nochi (fermented glutinous rice pancake) and winter solstice porridge.

Cooks from the restaurants were highly praised for explaining in plain language to visitors the traditional recipes and precautions to be taken in cooking the traditional Korean dishes and for preparing and serving tasty dishes on the spot.

The booth of the Ryonggang Folk Park Management Station presented visual aids and videos showing roasted gizzard shad and grilled shellfish, which were inscribed on the local ICH list, and also served the dishes on the spot, attracting many visitors with unique taste and smell.

Other eye-catchers were the booths which enabled the visitors to witness the advantages of the traditional Korean medicine.

In particular, the acupuncture, moxibustion and cupping therapies of Ri Ae Ryong, a doctor of the Mangyongdae District Hospital who has been working as a Koryo therapist for over 40 years, made the visitors feel greater pride in their traditional medicine.

Ri Ae Ryong, who took part in the recent exhibition again after last year, said she was pleased that a larger number of people had a better understanding of the excellent Koryo medicine through the event.

During the exhibition, there took place a seminar, short course and presentation for exchanging and sharing successes and experience gained in protecting ICH.