The Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea will conduct a census of intangible cultural heritage from 2012 to 2020. The comprehensive research to be carried out for the upcoming nine years is a follow-up to the first nationwide census on folklore conducted from 1968 to 1979. The research results will be utilized to draw up appropriate government policies to safeguard and support the heritages, reflecting their change according to people’s lifestyle. Research will be carried out with the adjustment of existing categories, making them agreeable to the 2003 UNESCO Convention on intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In 2012, the research group will be set up and detailed investigation methods and analysis framework established, and from 2013 to 2020, on-site investigations will be carried out not only in Korea but also out of the country including China, Japan and Central Asia, where Korean descendents are still living. As for the North Korean region, the research team will seek for the North’s cooperation and also meet defectors, and those displaced who fled from their hometown during the Korean War (1950-1953). The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage will organize the investigation team in cooperation with experts mainly from Korean Folklore Society. About 3 billion won is set aside for the census on an annual basis.