New | Ondol, or Kang? Chinese, Koreans in war of words over who invented the traditional heated bed
The South Korean government is mulling over whether to apply for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) status for its “ondol,” a traditional underfloor heating architecture, provoking anger from China’s netizens due to a dispute between the two countries over ownership over the technology.
“We have decided that ondol technology is worth being protected as a World Heritage for all mankind,” the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in an announcement published on Sunday.
It said the campaign would most likely begin next year, because the Land Ministry authority would first conduct research to determine whether it would be valid to list ondol as a Unesco world heritage, before drawing up a budget in the second half of the year.
Ondol is a Korean traditional architecture that involves transferring heat from a stove to an adjoining room via horizontal smoke passages under a thick, raised masonry floor. This makes homes warmer and more livable in the cold Korean winters.
The announcement quickly drew protests from many disgruntled Chinese internet users, who claimed the technology had actually originated from China.
