Japan hit for trying to list mine as heritage site
Japan has come under growing criticism for pushing to register as a UNESCO World Heritage Site former mines that used Korean forced labor during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. On Tuesday, Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency proposed a number of mines on Sado, an island in Niigata Prefecture as a 2023 candidate for the UNESCO list.
Tokyo has been taking flak for failing to inform people of its forcible mobilization of Korean workers on Hashima Island, despite having pledged to do so in its application to UNESCO in 2015. Against this backdrop, it is deplorable for Japan to try again to register the mines ― another island site of forced labor ― as a global cultural heritage site.
The mines were operated to produce wartime materials such as gold, copper and iron for the Japanese military during World War II. According to a report by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 1,200 Koreans were forcibly mobilized there from 1939 until 1942, and suffered harsh work conditions. Unable to endure, many attempted to escape and were lynched once they were caught fleeing, according to the report.
In July 2015, Japan acknowledged that Koreans and others were forced to work "against their will" in the 1940s and promised to establish an information center to honor the victims and inform visitors of the historical facts. Japan's move came in line with its efforts to register 23 sites, including Hashima Island, as a legacy of the country's Meiji Industrial Revolution. Tokyo, however, invited anger from other countries including Korea for failing to keep its pledge.
Contrary to its earlier promise, the information center carries apparently "distorted" historical facts by claiming "there was no discrimination against Koreans." In July, UNESCO, for its part, adopted a resolution calling on the Japanese government to fulfill its promise.
It is an apparent challenge to international society for Japan to submit Sado Mine to UNESCO's list without correcting its distortions on Hashima Island's shameful history.
On Tuesday, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Japan to retract its push to list the island mines with UNESCO. Releasing a statement, ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam said, "It is deplorable for Japan to push for the heritage designation of the mines, another site of Korean forced labor."
The Seoul government should make concerted diplomatic efforts to publicize the reasons why the mines on Sado should not be granted World Heritage status, and shed more light on Japan's wartime forced labor. Tokyo should stop glossing over its past misdeeds which could worsen already soured bilateral relations.
Japan has come under growing criticism for pushing to register as a UNESCO World Heritage Site former mines that used Korean forced labor during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. On Tuesday, Japan's Cultural Affairs Agency proposed a number of mines on Sado, an island in Niigata Prefecture as a 2023 candidate for the UNESCO list.
Tokyo has been taking flak for failing to inform people of its forcible mobilization of Korean workers on Hashima Island, despite having pledged to do so in its application to UNESCO in 2015. Against this backdrop, it is deplorable for Japan to try again to register the mines ― another island site of forced labor ― as a global cultural heritage site.
The mines were operated to produce wartime materials such as gold, copper and iron for the Japanese military during World War II. According to a report by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 1,200 Koreans were forcibly mobilized there from 1939 until 1942, and suffered harsh work conditions. Unable to endure, many attempted to escape and were lynched once they were caught fleeing, according to the report.
In July 2015, Japan acknowledged that Koreans and others were forced to work "against their will" in the 1940s and promised to establish an information center to honor the victims and inform visitors of the historical facts. Japan's move came in line with its efforts to register 23 sites, including Hashima Island, as a legacy of the country's Meiji Industrial Revolution. Tokyo, however, invited anger from other countries including Korea for failing to keep its pledge.
Contrary to its earlier promise, the information center carries apparently "distorted" historical facts by claiming "there was no discrimination against Koreans." In July, UNESCO, for its part, adopted a resolution calling on the Japanese government to fulfill its promise.
It is an apparent challenge to international society for Japan to submit Sado Mine to UNESCO's list without correcting its distortions on Hashima Island's shameful history.
On Tuesday, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked Japan to retract its push to list the island mines with UNESCO. Releasing a statement, ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam said, "It is deplorable for Japan to push for the heritage designation of the mines, another site of Korean forced labor."
The Seoul government should make concerted diplomatic efforts to publicize the reasons why the mines on Sado should not be granted World Heritage status, and shed more light on Japan's wartime forced labor. Tokyo should stop glossing over its past misdeeds which could worsen already soured bilateral relations.
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