UNESCO on Thursday added "nongak", traditional Korean music performed by farmers, to its intangible cultural heritage list for its creativity and cultural identity, the government said.

The music was inscribed as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during the 9th session of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Paris, it said.

Nongak -- comprising drums, gongs, dancing, and acrobatic feats -- was originally performed by farmers, but nowadays it is a popular performing art seen nationwide, especially during the holidays.

The inscription has been widely anticipated since the committee's subsidiary body that deliberates on new additions unanimously categorized "Nongak, community band music, dance and rituals in the Republic of Korea" as recommended for inscription on Oct. 29.

The body said the music, characterized by independence, openness and creativity, has served to provide a cultural identity to both performers and audiences. 

Applications are divided into three categories: recommended for induction, refer and not to inscribe. Those recommended for inscription are normally adopted by the UNESCO committee as intangible cultural heritages of humanity.

Nongak became South Korea's 17th item on the UNESCO list that includes ancestral royal rites, a percussion instrument performance known as "pansori" and a 5,000-year-old dance called "ganggangsullae" and "Arirang," a traditional folk song.

"Arirang" is not just one song but a variety of local versions handed down generation after generation on the Korean Peninsula.

A group of six North Korean provincial versions of Arirang was separately added to the intangible heritage list during the same meeting on Wednesday, making it the North's first-ever inscription on the list.

The meeting is set to end on Friday, wrapping up its five-day schedule. (Yonhap)