The National Authority for the Protection of Cultural Heritage is a central organ responsible for providing unified guidance over the conservation of the country’s national heritage.
In collaboration with relevant organs like scientific research and educational institutions, it unearths and collects tangible, intangible and natural heritage and organizes their examination, registration and evaluation, and gives unified guidance over national heritage conservation departments of people’s committees of provinces, cities and counties and over the work of national heritage conservation and management stations, scenic spot management stations and natural living monument management stations under the control of the relevant people’s committees and the work of history museums in the capital city and provinces.
In the country, in order to conduct national heritage conservation as a nation-wide undertaking, non-permanent committees for the conservation of national heritage are organized in the capital city and provinces and they regularly meet. Senior officials of governmental organs, administrative organs, law-enforcement organs and working people’s organizations are members of these committees.
Vice-President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is in charge of the central non-permanent committee for the conservation of national heritage, which consists of senior officials of the Cabinet, committees, ministries and other central organs, law-enforcement organs and working people’s organizations. Chairmen of the relevant people’s committees are in charge of the non-permanent committees for the conservation of national heritage at all levels and their members are selected from among senior officials of local power organs, administrative organs, law-enforcement organs and working people’s organizations.
The Korea National Heritage Preservation Agency is a scientific research centre and advisory body in the field of national heritage conservation.
The Korea National Heritage Preservation Agency is in charge of research work for excavation, historical investigation, registration, restoration, conservation and management of national heritage, conducts excavation on site and undertakes relevant information work. It also gives advice on the scientific and theoretical subjects related with national heritage conservation at the request of the Cabinet, ministries, central organs, and other organs, enterprises and associations.
There is a national heritage preservation agency in every province which is under the control of the people’s committee of the relevant province.
There are the Korean Central History Museum, Korean Folklore Museum, Rangnang Museum, Myohyangsan History Museum, Koryo Museum and every province has its own history museum. Valuable historical relics and records, which showcase the time-honoured history and brilliant cultural traditions of the Korean nation, are preserved and exhibited in these museums. They also give wide publicity to them through various exhibitions of historical relics and records.
The basic mission of the Koryo Fine Arts Studio is to study, restore, repair or newly represent works of national art which reflect the time-honouredness, excellence, noble spiritual world and peculiar life customs of the Korean nation.
It has such specialized departments as ancient paintings study division, historical paintings division, and ancient paintings restoration division. Specialists like artists, carvers, metal craftsmen, wood craftsmen and embroiderers are engaged in restoration and repairing of Buddhist images, candlesticks, wood blocks, alms tables, figures of the four guardian kings, colour painting and thaenghwa (picture unique to Buddhism) in temples, and create works of fine arts that reflect national customs, for example, portraits of famous generals and figures of ancient times, battle scenes, the custom of welcoming the first full moon, swinging, ssirum playing and Taekwon-Do practising, based on historical records.
The main mission of the National Heritage IT Agency is to put conservation of national heritage on IT, scientific and modern basis in the fields of excavation, verification, examination and evaluation, registration, restoration, repair, conservation, management and propagandizing through software development, multimedia production and with the help of modern measuring instruments like 3D camera, gamma-ray camera, laser measuring instrument and ultrasonic diagnosing instrument.
The Korea National Heritage International Travel Company organizes various kindly services such as visit, inspection, experiencing and mountain hiking to historical sites and scenic spots, natural living monuments, history museums and folklore streets in Korea. The main mission of the company is to give publicity to the Korean nation’s time-honoured history and traditions and to create funds necessary for the conservation of national heritage.
Tourists will travel to Korean scenic spots like Mt Kumgang, Mt Myohyang, Mt Chilbo and get an understanding of the history of the Tangun’s nation through visits to historical sites such as temples. They will also travel to folklore villages and streets in Pyongyang and Kaesong, which were capital cities of Ancient Joson, Koguryo and Koryo. Here they will experience the Korean customs like traditional costume, marriage ceremony and kimchi making, taste traditional foods such as Pyongyang cold noodle, bouilli of chicken with insam inside and bean paste soup, and see art performances like folk song Arirang and Pongsan mask dance.
The main mission of the National Heritage Construction Company is to specialize in construction for the conservation of national heritage such as restoration of structures like temples and pavilions, readjustment of areas and construction of protection facilities in the scenic spots and natural living monument conservation zones, and construction and repair of folklore streets and parks and history museums. The company also receives orders for designing and building work of modern Korean-style buildings and carries them out.