A blacksmith in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, designated as a provincial intangible heritage in 2016. Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service

The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) is launching an evaluation to determine whether nine cultural practices rooted in traditional Korean skills and knowledge, such as blacksmithing and dried seaweed farming, are eligible for National Intangible Cultural Heritage status.

The state-run agency announced Monday that it will consider these nine items for intangible heritage status this year.

The items include "daejangjang" (blacksmithing), "seonhwa" (Korean Seon Buddhist painting), knowledge of "multtae" (tide and time), farming of "gim" (dried seaweed), traditional fishing village communities, village forests and related traditional knowledge, traditional irrigation knowledge and culture, "deokjang" (outdoor fish drying site) and the culture of using "homi" (hand plows).

Daejangjang refers to an artisan who possesses traditional metalworking techniques and passes it down. In South Chungcheong Province's Dangjin County, which has maintained the technique for over 100 years, a blacksmith received designation as provincial intangible heritage in 2016 in recognition of this technique that is disappearing due to industrialization.

Ven. Seonggak works on "seonhwa," or Korean Seon Buddhist painting, in this April 2018 photo. Newsis

Seonhwa is Seon Buddhist painting that freely expresses enlightenment without being bound by specific painting or calligraphy techniques. It is considered part of the Seon practice in Buddhism and is currently designated as intangible heritage in the port city of Busan.

Korea has been actively practicing seaweed farming since the 17th century when seaweed attached to wooden fences was installed in the sea, according to records from the National Folk Museum of Korea. This technique later developed into an industry and laver has now become one of the nation's representative food export products.

Most of the other items newly added to the investigation list are heritage items based on traditional knowledge. Multtae knowledge refers to the recognition and understanding of tidal differences in Korean seas, while homi culture encompasses the history and usage of the traditional farming tool. Also, village forests and related knowledge are intangible heritage that show how traditional village communities perceived forests as important communal spaces.

“We plan to examine the value as intangible heritage, focusing on community-transmitted items that do not separately recognize holders or holding groups,” a KHS official said.

Additionally, the KHS will survey the current status of successors for 31 items in the fields of traditional performing arts and techniques this year.