Japan's Mainichi Strongly Criticizes "Sado Mine World Heritage Recommendation Harms National Interest"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Major Japanese media strongly criticized the Japanese government's recommendation of the Sado Mine, a forced labor site of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period, as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

On the 1st, the Mainichi Shimbun published an editorial titled "Considering the Political Use of Culture as Dangerous," stating, "Using culture politically with the intention of confronting a neighboring country only harms national interests."

It added, "World Heritage is a system to protect cultural assets with universal value that humanity should share."

The Mainichi noted that the Japanese government initially planned to postpone the recommendation of the Sado Mine considering South Korea's opposition, but changed its policy after conservative members of the Liberal Democratic Party, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, criticized the government for being passive, pointing out that "this was done with the July House of Councillors election and conservative votes in mind."

It also evaluated that Japan, which led reforms of the World Heritage evaluation system to emphasize consultation with related countries in response to the registration of materials related to the Nanjing Massacre as World Documentary Heritage, is acting illogically by pushing forward the recommendation of the Sado Mine despite South Korea's opposition.

The Mainichi criticized, "Japan should have first formed a consensus with South Korea," adding, "Until now, Japan has insisted that understanding from related countries is indispensable during the registration process, but this recommendation contradicts that."

It further stated, "Work guidelines have been adopted that require dialogue between parties before submitting a nomination for cultural heritage," and added, "If the process proceeds without following such procedures and the World Heritage registration is ultimately jeopardized, it betrays the sentiments of the related region (the area where the Sado Mine is located)."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.