▲ Sado mine tunnel built after the Meiji period
The Japanese government is in the process of suspending the proposal to recommend the Sado Mine, a site of forced labor for Koreans during the Japanese colonial period, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported based on explanations from several Japanese government officials.
The newspaper reported that even if the Sado mine is recommended as a World Heritage Site, the Japanese government has decided that there is no prospect of registration at the World Heritage Committee to be held next year due to Korean opposition, etc.
There is no case in which nominations that were rejected by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee were subsequently registered as World Heritage Sites.
The Japanese government plans to pursue registration as a World Heritage Site after 2024, the newspaper added.
It seems that the Japanese government took the lead in changing the review system in order to prevent the inscription of materials related to the Nanjing Massacre, an atrocity committed by the Japanese military during the Sino-Japanese War, on the World Register of Records.
UNESCO reformed the system last year so that if there are any opposing countries when registering as a World Register, it will stop reviewing and have dialogue.
In the case of the Sado mine, it is expected to be criticized as a 'double standard' if Japan insists that the Sado mine, which Korea opposes, be registered as a World Heritage Site, although the fields are different because it is promoting registration as a World Cultural Heritage rather than a World Record.
(Photo = Yonhap News)