Anchor: The Cultural Heritage Administration says it will designate an indigenous tea leaf making process as a new Important Intangible Cultural Property.
Our Park Jong-hong has more on the Korean tea brewing technique, using sprouts, leaves and even young stems of tea trees.

Report: The Cultural Heritage Administration(CHA) made an advance notice Friday that it will designate the country’s southern traditional tea brewing technique as a new Important Intangible Cultural Property.

The tea brewing technique, or "jeon-tong-je-da" in Korean, uses sprouts, leaves or young stems of tea trees to make pan-fired, lump or fermented teas.

Records of the South Korean traditional tea making process go as far back as the Three Kingdoms era more than a millennium ago. The Joseon Dynasty era that lasted from 1392 to 1897 also saw publications of various books containing such records.

The indigenous technique is credited for the profound tastes of Korean tea.

Noting that traditional tea leaf making processes have become parts of key industries in many regions in South Korea, the culture authority said it will not recognize individuals or groups that have assumed the technique. 

Instead, it vowed to launch various projects to preserve the traditional tea brewing technique and pass it over to the next generations.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.