Japanese Diet Members Inspect Forced Labor Site Sado Mine of Koreans... "For World Heritage"

Japan recently applied for the registration of Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Heritage site, claiming its cultural value due to the large-scale production of high-quality gold during the Edo period (1603?1867), while concealing the fact of forced labor of Koreans. The photo shows a tunnel inside Sado Mine in Japan.

According to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun on the 7th, ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers in Japan inspected the Sado Mine, a site where Koreans were forcibly mobilized during the Japanese colonial period. The Japanese government aims to register the Sado Mine as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

Twenty senior members of the LDP parliamentary league, which aims to have the Sado Mine listed as a World Cultural Heritage site, visited Sado City in Niigata Prefecture the day before and toured the Sado Mine site. The inspection included participation by the league chairman, former Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone, and former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama.

After the inspection, former Foreign Minister Nakasone told reporters, "It is admirable that high-quality gold was produced in large quantities over a long period using traditional techniques. I want to do whatever it takes to realize the Sado Mine’s registration as a World Heritage site."

The Japanese government recommended the Sado Mine as a candidate for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in February, which drew protests from the South Korean government.

The Sado Mine was famous as a gold mine during the Edo period, but after the Pacific War intensified, it was mainly used as a mine to secure war materials such as copper, iron, and zinc, where a large number of Koreans were forcibly mobilized and subjected to forced labor.

Nevertheless, in its nomination documents, the Japanese government limited the period of significance to between the 16th century and the mid-19th century, excluding the history of forced mobilization of Koreans.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a private advisory body to UNESCO, plans to conduct an on-site investigation of the Sado Mine in the second half of this year to evaluate it. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee will make the final decision on whether to register the Sado Mine as a World Heritage site around June to July next year, based on ICOMOS’s recommendations and other factors.

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