Pansori, the traditional Korean narrative musical form, has been officially designated by UNESCO as an intangible human asset.

UNESCO held a ceremony for declaring intangible assets of human heritage at its headquarters in Paris Friday and designated a total of 28 intangible global human assets, among which number was included Pansori.

An 18-member selection committee screened a total of 58 human legacies recommended by UNESCO member nations November 3-6.

Among the assets finally selected for the honor this time were sand drawings from the Nanuatu Republic in the Southwestern Pacific and a pigmy dance from the Central African Republic.

In May 2001, UNESCO also chose South Korea's Jong Myo, or royal ancestral ritual music, as one of 19 human masterpieces.