Sokcho Saja Noreum: Transition and Transmission of a North Korean Community’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

Sokcho Saja Noreum: Transition and Transmission of a North Korean Community’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

This paper aims to explore how the transmission of intangiblecultural heritage contributes to the identity of a communitythrough Saja Noreum, a folk play which has been re-createdat Abai Village, Cheongho-dong, Sokcho. The play embracesthe memories of the villagers’ hometown, Bukcheong, in NorthKorea, the Korean War, the national division and the loss oftheir home. People of the diaspora identify themselves as the‘Sokcho people from Bukcheong’. This is also manifested intheir changing the name of the play from Sokcho BukcheongSaja Noreum to Sokcho Saja Noreum. This transition is analysedin terms of some of the main factors of intangible culturalheritage: self-identification, constant re-creation as a responseto the historical and social evolution of the community andgroups concerned, the connection of heritage to the identityof its creators and bearers, the authenticity of the heritage,and the interrelationship between intangible cultural heritageand human rights. Saja Noreum is a living expression and animportant link between South and North Korea.

This paper aims to explore how the transmission of intangiblecultural heritage contributes to the identity of a communitythrough Saja Noreum, a folk play which has been re-createdat Abai Village, Cheongho-dong, Sokcho. The play embracesthe memories of the villagers’ hometown, Bukcheong, in NorthKorea, the Korean War, the national division and the loss oftheir home. People of the diaspora identify themselves as the‘Sokcho people from Bukcheong’. This is also manifested intheir changing the name of the play from Sokcho BukcheongSaja Noreum to Sokcho Saja Noreum. This transition is analysedin terms of some of the main factors of intangible culturalheritage: self-identification, constant re-creation as a responseto the historical and social evolution of the community andgroups concerned, the connection of heritage to the identityof its creators and bearers, the authenticity of the heritage,and the interrelationship between intangible cultural heritageand human rights. Saja Noreum is a living expression and animportant link between South and North Korea.