Traditional Korean wrestling “ssireum” has officially become a cultural asset.
 
The Cultural Heritage Administration announced on Wednesday that it designated ssireum as national intangible cultural asset number 131.
 
Ssireum is a 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.
 
The government is also seeking the UNESCO designation of ssireum on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The decision on the designation will come in 2018.