UNESCO status for Korean wrestling

SEOUL - Divided for about seven decades, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea together won their first international recognition of Korean traditional wrestling as one of the world's cultural treasures on Monday.

The neighbors had earlier pushed separate bids for the sport's UNESCO recognition before merging their applications amid an easing of tensions this year. Local media reports said Seoul had first proposed the joint bid after a leaders' summit at the Korean border village of Panmunjom in April.

On Monday, UNESCO said Korean wrestling had been added to a list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" on the basis of an application by the neighbors.