UNESCO Memory of The World Register and Controversy
In 2009, UNESCO decided to add Dongui Bogam to the cultural heritage list due to its contribution as a historical relic and it was placed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme, becoming Korea's seventh cultural heritage to be thus included. However, doctors clashed over Dongui Bogam after the official listing. The Korean Medical Association (KMA) downplayed the book’s importance saying that “it shouldn’t be taken as anything more than a recognition of the book’s value as a historical relic. It should not be taken as an acknowledgement of traditional medicine for its superior effectiveness” Listing the fact that the book as full of quackery such as how to bore a son or how to make yourself invisible. The KMA emphasized that Dongui Bogam was merely a cultural artifact and not a science. The Association of Korean Oriental Medicine (AKOM) criticized the doctors of KMA for the lack of their appreciation of the influence of Dongui Bogam and history, saying it is necessary “to inherit and advance traditional medicine”.
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