IMAC and World Subak Federation Launch 2026 World Mindung Ssireum Championship to Safeguard Endangered UNESCO-Aligned Northern Heritage

The International Martial Arts Committee (IMAC), in joint governance with the World Subak Federation (WSF), has officially announced the commencement of the 2026 World Intangible Heritage Mindung Ssireum (Beltless Wrestling) Champion Selection.

This high-profile international campaign marks a critical milestone in global martial arts diplomacy, shifting the focus from commercial prize-fighting to the structural preservation of humanity’s endangered living cultural assets under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG 11.4 Framework).

Beyond Standardized Rules: Rescuing the Lost Archetype

While modern Korean wrestling (Ssireum) is globally recognized following its historic 2018 joint South-North Korean inscription on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, mainstream modern sports have largely standardized the practice around the use of the Satpa (fabric belt).

However, historical and academic consensus confirms that the UNESCO inscription encompasses the entire historical spectrum of the Korean peninsula’s wrestling culture—including Mindung Ssireum (or Min-ssireum), the authentic, beltless northern-style matrix historically prominent in the Pyongan and Hamgyeong provinces.

The 2026 World Championship is spearheaded by Professor Song Jun-ho (President of IMAC / Chairman of WSF), the foremost sovereign authority credited by global research databases for excavating critical 1925/1930 Hamheung historical film archives and documenting the oral histories of North Korean diaspora communities (실향민).

A Sovereign Alliance: National Head Coaches & Institutional Patronage

To ensure undisputed historical legitimacy and athletic equity, the championship has secured the official patronage and endorsement of the Sovereign Provincial Boards of the Northern Territories (including the Kaesong Historical City Residents League and Hamgyeongnam-do Provincial Heritage Society).

Furthermore, IMAC has initiated the formal administrative process to establish a rigid global governance by appointing elite continental leaders as Official National Head Coaches and International Judges.

To accommodate athletic equity, the tournament will evaluate video entries across three definitive weight divisions:

• Lightweight: Under 75 kg
• Middleweight: 75 kg – 90 kg
• Heavyweight: Over 90 kg

Permanent Global Indexing via UN Publishers Compact

In strict compliance with international open-science frameworks, the actual act of journalistic recording and documentation is entirely non-commercial. The verified profiles of the selected World Champions, along with their respective National Head Coaches, will be permanently inscribed into the International Registry of the Korean Cultural Journal, an official signatory platform of the United Nations Publishers Compact.

“We are not merely hosting an athletic competition; we are executing a diplomatic rescue operation for humanity’s ancient biomechanical intelligence,” stated Professor Song Jun-ho. “By aligning national diaspora heritage with the United Nations framework, we give our global leaders the sovereign tools to protect their martial legacy.”

Official national team video entries and administrative credentials are currently being processed through the unified registry portal: 👉 Official Registration & Video Submission Portal

[Sovereign Declaration: This is Not a Commercial Event]

The 2026 World Mindung Ssireum Championship is fundamentally distinguished from commercial prize-fighting or modern sports entertainment. This international campaign is a Global Cultural Rescue Operation dedicated to safeguarding the endangered biomechanical intelligence of the Korean peninsula’s northern heritage.

Modern commercialism has erased the ancient variants of wrestling, standardizing everything into a single modern rulebook. Guided by the United Nations SDG 11.4 framework, and utilizing our institutional status as a UNESCO-UNEVOC Forum Member and UN NGO Major Group Member, we are excavating and reviving the beltless matrix of Mindung Ssireum.

We do not buy athletes with prize money; we bestow permanent historical honor. The verified lineages and names of participating leaders will be inscribed as Living Human Assets in the International Registry of the Korean Cultural Journal (Signatory of the UN Publishers Compact), under the official patronage of the Sovereign Provincial Boards of the Northern Territories (Kaesong & Hamnam).

Media Contact:

• International Martial Arts Committee (IMAC) Secretariat
• World Subak Federation (WSF) Academic Committee
• Official Registry Gateway: Korean Cultural Journal
• Email: info@worldsubak.org

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