South Korea’s cultural sector witnessed significant achievements this year with many properties being added to the UNESCO heritage lists.

On July fourth, the remains of the ancient kingdom of Baekje were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The ancient areas are made up of eight archaeological sites dating from 475 to 660 C.E. in Gongju and Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province and in Iksan, North Jeolla Province.

On October ninth, a set of Confucian printing woodblocks and the Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World documentary heritage list. With that move, South Korea now has 13 documentary heritages inscribed to the register.

The Archives of the KBS Special Live Broadcast “Finding Dispersed Families” was a live broadcast that ran for over 138 days from June 30, 1983. It reunited families who had been separated for some three decades after the Korean War.

Of the some 100-thousand people who sought to appear on the program, roughly 53-thousand went on-air. More than ten-thousand were able to rejoin their families.

On December second, Korea's traditional game of "juldarigi" was added to the UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. The decision was made during the 10th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Namibia.

South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines had submitted their intergovernmental joint application for the recognition of the tug-of-war game.

Juldarigi is a folk game where two groups pull from either side of a thick rope to bring a mark placed in the middle closer to them.

With that recognition, South Korea has a total of 18 items in the intangible cultural heritage list.

1. MERS Rattles Nation, Hits Economy

2. South Korea-China FTA Goes into Effect

3. President Park Geun-hye Engages in Active Summit Diplomacy

4. Inter-Korean Ties Return to State of Dialogue after Near Crisis

5. Government Actively Promotes 4 Reform Plans

6. Government Decides to Make Standardized Korean History Textbooks

7. Former President Kim Young-sam Dies at age of 88

8. S. Korea Boosts Vigilance Amid IS Terrorist Attacks

9. S. Korean Properties Added to UNESCO Register

10. S. Korean Golfers Dominate LPGA Competitions