Korea slams Japan over Unesco World Heritage site recommendation

Korea protested Japan's decision to recommend the Sado Gold and Silver Mine, where Koreans were forced to work during World War II, as a Unesco World Heritage site last week. "The Korean government expresses its strong regret that, despite..

Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Aiboshi, center, is questioned by the press at Korea's Foreign Ministry headquarters in Seoul on Friday when he was summoned by the ministry over the Japanese decision to recommend the Sado mine, where Koreans were forced to labor during World War II, as a Unesco Wolrd Heritage site. [YONHAP]

Korea protested Japan’s decision to recommend the Sado Gold and Silver Mine, where Koreans were forced to work during World War II, as a Unesco World Heritage site last week.

“The Korean government expresses its strong regret that, despite repeated warnings from our side, the Japanese government decided to promote the enlistment of the Sado mine, the site of forced labor for Koreans during World War II, as a Unesco World Heritage Site,” Choi Young-sam, spokesperson of Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said in a statement on Friday. “We strongly urge Japan to stop these attempts.”

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday announced plans to recommend the mine for enlistment with Unesco in 2023.

Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Aiboshi was summoned by the ministry to its headquarters in Seoul on Friday evening.

Choi emphasized that Japan should first implement the follow-up measures promised by the Japanese government regarding the sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, before trying to enlist another site.

The Meiji sites were enlisted as Unesco World Heritage in 2015, and include Hashima Island, where as many as 800 Korean forced laborers worked during the Pacific War between 1943 and 1945.

Following Korea’s protests at the time, a Unesco committee recommended Japan take proper measures to ensure visitors to the sites are informed of their full history. Japan in turn pledged to take measures to "allow an understanding that there were a large number of Koreans and others who were brought against their will and forced to work under harsh conditions in the 1940s at some of the sites,” according to the committee.

However, these measures have not been carried out as of last July, and Unesco has criticized Japan for not keeping its promise.

The Sado mine is another site where over 1,000 Koreans were forced to work during World War II, which took place during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945). The mine, primarily a gold mine during the Edo period (1603-1867), was used mainly for mining copper, zinc and iron during World War II. It was shut down completely in 1989.

“We will use various diplomacy channels and networks to put forward our position on the matter in the international arena,” said a Foreign Ministry official while speaking with a group of reporters on Friday. “We will be creating a special team within the ministry to work solely on this issue.”

Korea’s Foreign Ministry suggested to Tokyo a trilateral dialogue among Korea, Japan and Unesco to address the heritage issue, but there has been no response from the Japanese government, according to the official.

The Japanese government, meanwhile, held an inter-governmental meeting on Tuesday to work on recommending the mine to Unesco, according to local media reports in Tokyo.

To be recognized as a Unesco World Heritage site, there are two tests sites must pass. One is an assessment by Unesco’s International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), which involves both on-paper and in-person assessments.

After these assessments, the council doles out its ruling, which can be either one of the four: approval for next steps for inscription, request for further information from the country about the site, deferral which means the country needs to start the recommendation process again, or non-inscription which means the site is not of outstanding universal value.

Icomos submits its ruling to the World Heritage Committee, which then holds an annual meeting to discuss the candidates and Icomos assessments. The committee doles out its ruling, also one of the four options. If a site receives a non-inscription decision from the committee, the applicant cannot ever request another review of the site.

Only the sites that pass with two-thirds of the total vote of the committee members can be officially registered as Unesco World Heritage sites. The committee has 21 members, elected every two years. Korea is not a member, and by Unesco rules, cannot become one until 2024.

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]