South Korea and Japan are seeking to have records on the Joseon Dynasty’s dispatch of diplomatic delegations to Japan added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World list.
 
In Kawagoe City in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture, South Korean and Japanese historical organizations agreed Sunday to set up an academic panel and hold joint conferences on the issue. The decision came amid the Japanese city’s annual reenactment of a Joseon diplomatic delegation procession. 
 
The two nations plan to submit an application for the records to be added to the UNESCO list next year, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. The initiative is being pushed by 16 Japanese cities that Joseon diplomatic missions traveled to on their journeys and the South Korean city of Busan, which was a Joseon-era base for exchanges with Japan.
 
The Joseon Dynasty sent 12 diplomatic delegations to Japan over the span of 200 years.