▲ The view of the warship from the Japanese cruise ship


Professor Seongshin Women's University, Seo Kyung-deok, said on the 29th that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee recently sent mail indicating the problems of the Industrial Heritage Information Center, which the Japanese government opened in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The center introduces the Hashima (aka'Gunhamdo Island)' coal mine, a representative place where the forced imprisonment of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period occurred, and exhibits testimony and materials that deny the damage itself.

Nagasaki's warships, which are visited by many tourists as well as sites where dark traces of history remain intact, are introduced as well as introductions of testimony from the islanders who say that “Korean ships have never been harassed by Korean workers from the surroundings.” Museums, promotional videos that are screened on the ferry to the island, and nowhere else can we find the painful past of Korea.

In 2015, the Japanese government promised to take measures to remember victims of forced punishment by establishing an information center while registering Meiji Industrial Heritage as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Japanese government opened the Industrial Heritage Information Center in Shinjuku, Tokyo and opened it to the public.

In the exhibition hall, materials from modern industrial facilities in Japan were exhibited, but mentions of forced punishment by Koreans, such as warships, are omitted.

Professor Seo has sent a letter to UNESCO Secretary General Audrey Azule and members of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 21 countries, stating that Japan is not fulfilling its promises in 2015.

In the letter of the letter, he wrote, "At the time of registration in 2015, Japanese Ambassador to the UNESCO acknowledged that'at some facilities in the 1940s, many Koreans and other citizens were forced to labor under harsh conditions against their will.'

He asserted, "If Japan does not correct history correctly, the UNESCO World Heritage Authority will have to fall, so the World Heritage Committee will follow up strongly."

The mailings also include photographs of information boards, guides, etc. that do not keep their promises during the past five years, while directly exploring warships, Takashima coal mines, and Miike coal mines.

(Photo = Prof. Kyungdeok Seo, Yonhap News)