Korea, Japan in last-ditch effort over UNESCO

UNESCO verdict over Japan’s bid due today

By Yi Whan-woo

Korea and Japan have been struggling to narrow their differences in their last-minute negotiations over Tokyo’s bid to win UNESCO world heritage recognition for its colonial-era industrial facilities, according to diplomatic sources, Friday.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee (WHC) is expected to decide whether to accept the bid on Friday during its ongoing 39th session in Bonn, Germany.

However, Korea is reluctant to accept Japan’s demand to fine-tune the wording of Seoul’s statement regarding Japan’s UNESCO campaign to register 23 Meiji Industrial Revolution sites on the world heritage list, according to sources.

Seoul has claimed some 57,900 Koreans were coerced into labor under extreme conditions at the seven facilities, including shipyards, coalmines and steelworks, across Japan’s eight prefectures during its colonial rule (1910-45).

Seoul’s delegates are expected to deliver the statement during the Friday meeting, sources said. Along with Japan, Korea is one of the WHC’s 21 member nations and has the right to voice its opinion at the meeting.

The sources said Japan is making “all-out” efforts to win support from WHC member states for its bid.

The latest development came after Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama visited Seoul this week to discuss related issues with foreign ministry officials, fueling speculation a Seoul-Tokyo rift may still occur.

Sugiyama held a closed-door meeting with Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Kim Hong-kyun on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Japanese diplomat also met 2nd Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, who headed to Bonn afterwards to attend the WHC session.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se raised optimism for the Korea-Japan negotiations when he visited Tokyo last month on the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Yun said he and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, “found common ground” in their talks on June 21.

It was speculated that the two countries may agree to attach an annotation on Japan’s UNESCO documents to deal with the historical wounds of Korea.

Some sources said the Japanese government might consider other measures, such as recounting the history of slave labor on signs at the sites and on the websites of local governments that have jurisdiction over them, as well as on pamphlets for visitors.

Japan previously argued that Korea is making “political assertions,” claiming all 23 sites were built between 1850 and 1910, a move seen as an attempt to avoid conflict with Korea.