Korean traditional wrestling “ssireum” will officially become a cultural asset.
 
The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Monday that it will designate ssireum as a national intangible cultural asset.
 
Ssireum is a popular sport in which contestants hold onto each other’s belt called a "satba" and try to bring their opponent’s upper body to the ground with force and techniques.
 
Traces of the sport can be found in various documents, paintings and relics dating back to the period of the Three Kingdoms. Ssireum is assessed to have kept intact Korea’s uniqueness and means of expression in its rules and techniques.
 
In April, the Korea Ssireum Association submitted an application for the UNESCO designation of Ssireum on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.