A ceremony was held in Seoul on Tuesday to celebrate the inclusion of Korea’s “Donguibogam” on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Some 150 guests attended the ceremony at Changdeok Palace that was jointly organized by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea and the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine.

In particular, the event reenacted a ceremony in which Heo Jun, the writer of the series of Joseon Dynasty books on traditional Korean medicine, presented the finished medical books to the king.

In late July, UNESCO decided to include the “Donguibogam” on its memory of the World Register, noting that the medical books had greatly contributed to the development of oriental medicine and significantly enhanced national health and welfare.

The Donguibogam was compiled by Heo Jun, a Joseon Dynasty royal doctor, in 1613. The encyclopedia documents the evolution of medicine in East Asia and elsewhere. The Korean government designated the 25-volume collection as a national treasure in 1991.