Russia Opposes Japan's Sado Mine World Heritage Listing, Criticizes as "Historical Erasure"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] As Japan pushes to register the Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site, Russia, a member country of the World Heritage Committee, has expressed opposition.

According to RIA Novosti, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made remarks opposing the move during a regular briefing on the 9th (local time), stating that Russia is paying attention to the related issue.

Earlier, the Japanese government submitted a nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage Center on the 1st to register the Sado Mine, a site of forced labor of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period, as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

She said, "We understand the reaction of the Korean side," and criticized, "It seems that Japan is continuously taking measures against several countries, including Korea, to erase the crimes committed by Japanese leaders during World War II from humanity's memory."

She further criticized, "It is difficult to understand how one can deny the historical facts related to the barbarity of Japanese militarists at that time and the fact that many people were mobilized for forced labor in mines in countries colonized by militarist Japan."

She emphasized, "Russia consistently maintains the stance of depoliticization of UNESCO and its subordinate World Heritage Committee," adding, "We believe it is necessary to exclude politicized and non-jurisdictional issues from the agenda of this organization."

Russia is one of the 21 member countries of the World Heritage Committee that will decide next year on the registration of the Sado Mine as a World Heritage site, and it is the chair country of the 45th World Heritage Committee meeting to be held in June this year. This is effectively the first time a World Heritage Committee member country has publicly expressed an opinion on Japan's push to register the Sado Mine.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it is "well aware" of Russia's recent position report and added, "We plan to continue close cooperation with the international community to stop Japan's attempt to register the Sado Mine as a World Heritage site while ignoring the painful history of forced labor of Koreans during World War II."

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