N.Korea`s Ancient Tomb Mural Paintings of Koguryo Likely to Be World Cultural Heritage

Ancient tomb mural paintings of Koguryo period in North Korea will be officially designated as the World Cultural Heritage by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) in Soochow, China. The UNESCO Goodwill ambassador, Hirayama Ikuo commented it in a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, reported Nihon Keizai Newspaper on Wednesday.

Hirayama, the dean of the college of Art at Tokyo university, has been actively campaigning the painting to be designated as the World Cultural Heritage for several years.

Hirayama said that N. Korea is preparing for the designation of the wall and recently promoted the Department of the Cultural Heritage Preservation.

As Hirayama told the officials of North Korea that “if there is anything damaging the international environment, it can not be designated as the World Cultural Heritage”, the officials responded that “we wouldn`t develop nuclear weapons”.

“The leaders of North Korea seemed to be very well informed about the current situations on the war with Iraq, probably through Satellite TVs …, and they seemed to be worried and anxious of the overwhelming military power of U.S.” said Hirayama.

63 ancient tombs of Koguryo have been so far found in N. Korea and 17 to 20 tombs of them which have mural paintings are likely designated as the World Cultural Heritage.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com