UNESCO review finds Japan's Sado mines follow-up still falls short
Korea's foreign ministry said Wednesday that a draft UNESCO decision validates its long-standing position that Japan has failed to adequately address the "whole history" of Korean forced labor at the Sado Island Gold Mines, as the World Heritage Committee (WHC) prepares to adopt the review at its 48th session in Busan. The draft decision, reviewing of Japan's State of Conservation (SOC) report on the site, welcomes the progress Japan has made on "management, conservation planning and visitor management." But on the history question, it finds that "further clarification is needed" on how the site's interpretation strategy addresses "the whole history of the property throughout all periods of mining exploitation" and asks Japan to keep the World Heritage Centre "regularly informed of its progress." The committee also recommends that Japan hold "close consultation with the States Parties concerned," referencing Korea, to improve the site's interpretation strategy, after finding that Japan's approach to presenting the whole history "has shown some progress but remains to be fully developed
