The descendants of Korean victims of forced labor on Nov. 25, 2024, tour a mine shaft after attending a memorial service for their ancestors at the dormitory site on Sado Island in Japan's Niigata Prefecture. (Yonhap News)
By Kim Hyelin
Domestic and Japanese civic groups are demanding that Japan inform the world about the truth behind the forced labor of Koreans on Sado Mine in Japan's Niigata Prefecture on the first anniversary of the designation of mines on the island as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Koreans were forced to work in such mines during Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45).
The Center for Historical Truth and Justice in Seoul and the Network for Research on Forced Labor Mobilization of Japan on July 27 issued a joint statement by Korean and Japanese civic groups marking the anniversary saying, "We demand that the Japanese government reveal the truth about the forced labor of Koreans at heritage sites of the Meiji Industrial Revolution and Sado Island mines and correctly describe its history."
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee on July 27 last year added the mines to the World Heritage List. The Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining were included on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 5, 2015, including Hashima (Battleship) Island, where Koreans were forced to work at coal mines.
The groups in a statement criticized the Japanese government for failing to "faithfully exhibit the history of the damage," a pledge it had made to Korea and the world when applying to register the mines on the UNESCO list.
In July last year, Tokyo pledged to "faithfully and comprehensively carry out the resolution's recommendations, sincerely hold remembrance of workers from the Korean Peninsula in particular, and closely consult with Korea."
The UNESCO committee approved the listing, after advising Tokyo to provide an explanation and exhibition strategy to comprehensively cover the history of mining on Sado and renovate related facilities and equipment.
The groups also said the Japanese government explained in an exhibition at the Aikawa History Museum near the Sado mines that Koreans were subjected to "harsh" labor, not "forced." "No exhibition informing about Korean labor is at the information facility, Sado Gold and Silver Mine Information Center Kirarium Sado. No list of forced Korean workers collected by Niigata Prefecture is displayed either," they added.
"This situation violates UNESCO's spirit of spreading universal values such as peace and human rights based on historical and cultural heritage."
kimhyelin211@korea.kr