Culture Minister Choung Byoung-gug says the government will seek to collect all the regional variations of the Korean folk song Arirang this year and have them listed as UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by next year.

Choung told reporters on Thursday that it is outrageous that China recently designated a regional variation of Arirang in the ethnic Korean community in Yanbian as its national intangible cultural heritage, saying Arirang in Yanbian is just a variation of Korea’s Arirang.

The minister added that as a result of China’s designation to the Korean folk song, it proves that Yanbian belongs to Korea’s cultural territory.

China’s State Council on Wednesday claimed Arirang and several other cultural assets as its own, including Korea’s traditional form of musical storytelling, “Pansori,” the Korean harp, “gayageum” and Korean wrestling, “ssireum."

The state council said the move was aimed at harmonizing the cultures of minor races in China, apparently referring to the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in China.

South Korean cultural groups and Internet users immediately criticized China’s move and urged for stern countermeasures from Seoul.

Korean cultural groups say Arirang is considered a symbol of Koreans’ life, culture and history, and China’s action is likely to be part of preparations to register the Korean properties to UNESCO's World Heritage list as Chinese assets.

China previously designated Korea’s traditional attire, hanbok, as its cultural property, and it openly introduced Korea’s fan dance and janggu dance as its national cultural assets during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.