▲ This image, captured from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, on Nov. 30, 2023, shows a part of the woodblock prints of the Tripitaka Koreana, stored in a temple in Tokyo. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Japan-UNESCO listing bid

S. Korea to closely review Japan's UNESCO registration bid for woodblock prints of Tripitaka Koreana: foreign ministry

By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will thoroughly review Japan's application for the listing of Buddhist scriptures, printed with ancient Korean Buddhist wooden printing blocks, on the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Memory of the World Register, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

The move came as the Japanese government is pushing to inscribe the woodblock prints of the Tripitaka Koreana on the UNESCO Memory of the World catalogue, according to its Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

The printed materials are currently housed in a temple in Tokyo.

"The government plans to thoroughly review the content of the related application when it is disclosed to UNESCO member states," Lee Joo-il, deputy spokesperson at Seoul's foreign ministry said in a briefing.

The application is expected to be submitted on an online platform accessible only by the member states in the first half of next year, a foreign ministry official said.

The likelihood of inclusion appears slim though, as Japan unsuccessfully sought to register the same materials in the past and the request was turned down by UNESCO's advisory committee, according to diplomatic sources.

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