By You Soo-sun
The first round of review of the "comfort women" archives submitted for UNESCO listing is slated for this week, Tuesday to Friday.
The UNESCO International Advisory Committee will hold its general meeting, held every two years, to review applications for its Memory of the World register, established to preserve documentary heritage throughout the world.
This year it is expected to examine around 130 applications, including one for the comfort women, a term used to refer to sex slaves of the Japanese during World War II.
Around 2,744 documents for consideration have been submitted by civic organizations from 14 countries including Korea, China, Japan and the Netherlands.
This will be the first review to take place since the application was filed.
The Korean government is seeking to have it pass the review board before the incumbent UNESCO secretary general's term ends next month.
This may be unlikely, however, due to opposition by Japan which funds about 10 percent of the program and whose influence has grown after the United States recently pulled out its funding of the program.
The Japanese government has been delaying to pay its share this year, which some critics believe is an attempt to prevent the enlisting of the comfort women archives.
The UNESCO board has stated its intention to follow regular protocols in determining which documents to put on its list.
The first round of review of the "comfort women" archives submitted for UNESCO listing is slated for this week, Tuesday to Friday.
The UNESCO International Advisory Committee will hold its general meeting, held every two years, to review applications for its Memory of the World register, established to preserve documentary heritage throughout the world.
This year it is expected to examine around 130 applications, including one for the comfort women, a term used to refer to sex slaves of the Japanese during World War II.
Around 2,744 documents for consideration have been submitted by civic organizations from 14 countries including Korea, China, Japan and the Netherlands.
This will be the first review to take place since the application was filed.
The Korean government is seeking to have it pass the review board before the incumbent UNESCO secretary general's term ends next month.
This may be unlikely, however, due to opposition by Japan which funds about 10 percent of the program and whose influence has grown after the United States recently pulled out its funding of the program.
The Japanese government has been delaying to pay its share this year, which some critics believe is an attempt to prevent the enlisting of the comfort women archives.
The UNESCO board has stated its intention to follow regular protocols in determining which documents to put on its list.
