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| Certificate of Annals of the Joseon Dynasty on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register / Courtesy of CHA |
By Yun Suh-young
The Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) has apparently lost the original copy of the UNESCO certificate that certifies the inscription of the Joseon Wangjo Sillok, or the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, according to a report by the Hankook Ilbo, The Korea Times' sister paper, Monday.
The original copy of the UNESCO certificate which was issued in 1997 was found to have disappeared a year later. Only 10 years later in 2007 did the CHA receive a new copy of the certificate. Unfortunately, the organization is unable to figure out how the certificate disappeared. Lost original copies include those certifying the registration of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty and the Hunminjeongeum Haerye, part of the Hangeul manuscript created by King Sejong (1397-1450), in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
UNESCO issues a certificate when a registration is confirmed of a cultural asset. Both of these Korean cultural relics were registered on the UNESCO registry and received certificates the same year.
The CHA speculates the certificates were lost during the relocation of the organization from Seoul to Daejeon in 1998, but officials are having trouble explaining how and through what means they were lost since the official in charge at the time has left the organization.
Some culture experts point to the possibility of the certificate being sold by an internal staffer to a private individual.
The Korean National Commission for UNESCO says this is an unusual case as it is difficult to find cases of losses of certificates. The newly issued certificate for the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty is currently exhibited at the Busan Repository of the National Archives of Korea but with no explanation on its reissuance.
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