The Japanese government's "Mongni" about the "Industrial Heritage Information Center" in Tokyo, Japan, where exhibitions that distort the history of forced mobilization during the Japanese colonial period, such as the warship islands, are showing no signs of change.
Earlier, SBS covered the center in June, which was scheduled to be open to the public one day on a reservation basis. In 2015, the UNESCO ambassador of the Japanese government said, "At that time, I will understand that many Koreans were forced to work in harsh environments against their will." They pointed out that the promises that they had made were not kept at all in the actual exhibition of the center (8 news on June 14 ▶'No discrimination' by exhibiting warships… the promises were abandoned), and on Liberation Day, the center was operated under the commission of the Japanese government. It has been reported that the'Industrial Heritage National Congress' is a typical far-right group, and that the Abe regime provided 5.6 billion yen in consignment fees to this group.
(August 15, 8 News ▶ Japan closed its mouth for'forced mobilization of warships too'…Abe gave 5.6 billion won)
In Japan, there are many conscientious civic groups that have been interested in forced labor during the period of imperial Japan, and in particular, have been constantly raising issues about the contents and purpose of the center opened this year.
Among them, the'Compulsory Mobilization Truth Investigation Network' (hereinafter referred to as the Network), which is active based in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, was held on November 1 of last year. Concerned that the center is being designed according to the content of research that does not reflect the position of the Japanese colonialists in East Asia and denies the historical fact that there was forced mobilization, the Japanese government, to be precise, then Prime Minister Abe and Secretary of State Suga, and A request was sent to the Office for the Promotion of Industrial Heritage World Heritage Registration, which is the department in charge of the Cabinet Office (the Prime Minister's Office of Korea), requesting a review of industrial labor during the Japanese colonial period.
He pointed out that instead of creating a center based solely on the survey results of the'Industrial Heritage National Conference', which has a very right color, the government should directly investigate the situation at the time, or at least a research institute such as a trusted university should re-examine the situation of forced labor at the time.
However, as reported above, the center has been open to the public since June with no such comments received.
For public disclosure, applications are received on the Internet due to the coronavirus outbreak, and 15 people are'selected' a day, and'guides' are attached almost one-on-one to unilateralize the'excellence' of industrial heritage during the Japanese colonial era and the'meaning' of the registration of world cultural heritage. It is still going on in a way that is described as.
In response to this,'Network' issued a joint statement on July 14th, a month after the public release, in connection with civic groups affiliated with historical movements in both countries.
It was said that the contents of the center's exhibition denying forced labor should be protested and the failures and testimonies of forced labor damage should be exhibited according to'historical facts'.
The Japanese government also requested that the'continuous dialogue with relevant countries' promised at the time of World Heritage registration, and the resolution of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2018, that is, groups and experts of forced labor victims, also communicated the contents of the center's exhibition. I did.
However, the Japanese government did not respond to this move.
On July 27, the'Network' sent a request to the Japanese government again, consolidating the requirements into the following four.
1. The Japanese government should look back at remarks at the time of UNESCO World Heritage registration and acknowledge the facts of forced labor in various places.
2. Collect testimony and records of victims of warships as well as wartime forced labor to display the entire history.
3. Based on the recommendations of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, talk with the Korean government and civic groups and other'related parties'.
4. Review exhibitions and guides that deny the existence of ethnic discrimination and forced labor, and stop entrusting them to the National Assembly.
As expected, the Japanese government did not respond to this request.
One month after sending the request, a public official named Yamada from the Network and the World Heritage Registration Promotion Office, a department in charge of the Japanese government, makes the following phone call.
Here are some of them.
Network: (Responding to the request)
Yamada: We do not plan to
respond in writing
.
Network: Do you think the contents of the exhibition follow the recommendations of the World Heritage Committee?
Yamada: Based on the statement of the World Heritage Committee in 2015, it was exhibited to understand conscription (forced mobilization), and I think it is an exhibition that shows that both workers from the Korean peninsula and Japanese were forced to work under a very miserable environment. .
Network: It is not an exhibition to commemorate the victims of forced labor.
Yamada: We recognize that there is an exhibition that shows that labor was forced under a miserable environment.
Network: Are you saying that forced labor existed on display?
Yamada: There is an exhibition in which you can conceptually understand conscription.
Network: Is it exhibited with the contents promised by the Japanese government to UNESCO?
Yamada: In the remarks of the Japanese government, I understand that measures have been taken to help (audience) understand that it has implemented a conscription policy.
Network: Is the dialogue with Korea going on (promised by the Japanese government)?
Yamada: It's a diplomatic act between governments, so I can't answer.
It feels like you are talking to the'wall'.
The call was also on the last 3 days.
This time, it starts with the remarks of'Yamada'.
It begins with'conversation with Korea' at the end of the August dialogue.
Yamada: As for communication with Korea, it is not generally open to the public, so I did it a few times so far, and I cannot give an answer in this way.
We are having a conversation (with Korea).
Network: In the report on the conservation status of industrial heritage submitted to UNESCO in 2019, there is no mention of ongoing dialogue with Korea.
Yamada: I don't think I can tell you explicitly.
Network: Why don't you explicitly state what the conversation is going on?
Yamada: It was a diplomatic issue, and there were some other things about the opening of the center after that, so it may be that I wrote the situation at the time.
At this point, the activists of the'Network' are inevitable to doubt whether the Japanese government is really talking with the Korean government about the contents of the center's exhibitions or not.
So I talked to Yamada again on the 9th to check this.
Network: May I accept that the Korean government is included in the 42nd World Heritage Committee's recommendation to promote dialogue?
Yamada: Yes.
Yesterday (18th) at the Tokyo House of Councilors, activists of the'Network' released the contents of these calls to the media and filled the Japanese government's'silence'.
They pointed out that the'conversation with Korea' that the Japanese government is doing is in fact highly likely to be a one-sided'explanation' that the center's exhibits do not feel any problem.
Also, the fact that the Korean government has not responded positively to the contents of the center's exhibition was analyzed as evidence that the Japanese government is simply repeating the existing stereotypical explanations infinitely to the Korean government as it did to the Network.
In fact, it is a problem that the Japanese government has already solved according to the '1965 Claims Agreement' on forced mobilization, and all movements, including the 2018 Supreme Court compensation ruling, are responding only by saying that the Korean government is "violating international law". Criticism came out that it is proving that there is no willingness to solve the problem.
'Network' activists told reporters that the newly launched Suga cabinet is also very worried about South Korea that it will only follow the line of the Abe regime.
Yet, he said, “We cannot leave the current situation where the government stands by and keeps closing our ears despite requests for correction,” he said. “I hope that Koreans know that there are some people in Japan who continue to make such efforts. Said.