Japan to nominate mines for UNESCO list despite South Korean protest

28/1/2022 18:52

        Japan is set to nominate several
        mines for consideration as world heritage sites by UNESCO, its
        prime minister said on Friday, despite protests from South Korea
        that the move is inappropriate as forced labourers were used
        there in World War Two.
        
        Japan's cultural affairs agency selected the gold and silver
        mines on the island of Sado as candidates for listing by the
        United Nations cultural organisation in December, citing the
        development of traditional handcraft techniques. The site was
        also the world's top producer of gold in the 17th century,
        according to the agency.
        
        Adding to already fraught bilateral relations, South Korea's
        foreign ministry protested the move, saying Korean labourers
        were forced to work there during Japan's 1910-1945 colonisation
        of the Korean peninsula, including during World War Two.
        
        Kishida said the decision to nominate the mines, which will
        be formalised at a cabinet meeting on Feb 1, was made as what
        seemed like the "shortest route" to getting the sites listed.
        
        "To start debate earlier means we can reach an agreement
        sooner," he told reporters, saying the sites were "really
        wonderful".
        
        He added that he didn't want to make predictions about a
        final decision, and he acknowledged South Korea's reaction.
        
        "We're aware that South Korea has its own opinions. So
        that's why we feel we should have meaningful, rational debate
        and dialogue," he added.
        
        Kishida, who faces an election for the upper house of
        parliament in July, had reportedly been under pressure from
        conservative lawmakers to press ahead with the nomination, but
        he denied he had been cajoled into the move.
        
        A spokesperson for South Korea's ministry of foreign affairs
        expressed "strong regret" that the Japanese government decided
        to promote the registration of the Sado Mine despite repeated
        warnings from the Korean side.
        
        "We strongly urge you to stop these attempts," the
        spokesperson said in a statement.
        
        The Asian neighbours have long been at loggerheads over a
        series of political and economic issues stemming from Japan's
        colonisation of the Korean peninsula.
        
        A recent flashpoint has been the issue of wartime forced
        labour, with bilateral relations falling to their lowest ebb in
        recent years as the row, highlighted by several South Korean
        court rulings, spilled into a trade dispute and rekindled
        historical and territorial spats.