The government protested by calling the Japanese ambassador to Korea on the 15th that it failed to keep its promise to properly disclose the history of forced Koreans while introducing industrial heritage to the public.

Lee Tae-ho, Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent a Japanese Ambassador to the Highland of Tomita as a Foreign Affairs Office at 1:52 pm on the day.

It was said that he was regretful that the Industrial Heritage Information Center at the Annex 2 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, contained an exhibition that distorted the history of forced imprisonment during the Japanese colonial period.

In addition, it seems that Japan urged the government to faithfully implement follow-up measures to honor victims of forced labor, as promised to the international community when it was registered as a World Heritage Site.

The Information Center introduces 23 industrial heritage sites of Japan's Meiji period, which were registered as World Heritage Sites in 2015, including seven Korean forced labor facilities, including the Hashima (aka'Gunhamdo') coal mine.

During the registration process, Japan admitted that Koreans and other citizens were forced to labor in harsh conditions because they were mobilized against their will at some facilities, and said they would set up an information center to honor the victims.

However, it was confirmed that the information center released to the public on this day was mainly about self-congratulations on Japan's industrialization performance, and failed to keep promises at the time, such as displaying testimony and materials denying the damages of forced punishment itself.

Previously, Japan did not include measures to admit forced labor against Koreans or to honor victims in the progress report on the follow-up of industrial heritage submitted to UNESCO twice.

In addition, Japan has not responded to the request for continuous dialogue from South Korea, although the World Heritage Committee recommended the'inter-party dialogue' on this issue in June 2018.

The government expects this issue to be discussed at the World Heritage Committee this year, but the World Heritage Committee, which was originally scheduled for June 29-July 9, has been postponed in the wake of the Corona 19.