National Affairs
Gov't response to Japan's bid to get UNESCO status for Sado mines
The Korean government has expressed strong regret and protest over the nomination by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs on Dec. 28, 2021, of the mines on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture as a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage. Seoul has urged Tokyo to first faithfully implement the follow-up measures it promised in 2015 to inform the full history behind its wartime atrocities and honor the victims in return for listing with UNESCO facilities of its Meiji Industrial Revolution, including Hashima (Battleship) Island.
Despite the pledges, Japan instead opened the Industrial Heritage Information Centre in Tokyo, not Hashima, and distorted history by hiding the history of discrimination against Koreans, forced work and human rights violations on the island.
In July 2021, the 21 countries on UNESCO's World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution at its 44th session expressing "strong regrets" over Japan's management of its world heritage.
UNESCO urges Japan to cover 'whole history' of forced labor mines
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has urged Japan to present the "whole history" of the Sado gold mines, where Koreans were brought to perform forced labor before and during World War II. The committee said this in a resolution adopted at its annual session in Busan. Click here for more
Jul 27,2026
UNESCO urges Japan to show 'whole history' of forced labor mines
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) has urged Japan to more faithfully reflect the "whole history" of gold mines on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, especially the use of forced laborers from Korea there from 1940-45.
Jul 16,2026
Japanese report again ignores forced labor at Sado gold mines
The Japanese government has again not implemented UNESCO's recommendation to reflect the entire history of gold mines on Sado Island, a site of forced labor by Koreans during Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) of the Korean Peninsula, even after the site's inscription as a World Heritage site.
Dec 16,2025
Civic groups urge Japan to keep pledges on forced labor mines
Domestic and Japanese civic groups are demanding that Japan inform the world about the truth behind the forced labor of Koreans on Sado Island in Japan's Niigata Prefecture on the first anniversary of the designation of mines on the island as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Jul 28,2025
Seoul holds own service in Japan for forced labor victims
The government has held a separate memorial service for Koreans forced to work in the early 20th century at a mining complex on Sado Island in Japan.
Nov 25,2024
UNESCO body urges Japan to tell Sado mine's full history
An advisory body to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC) has delayed deciding on Japan's application for gold mines on Sado, an island that once had forced laborers from Korea and other countries, and recommended the installation of facilities at the site to tell the world of the island's history of forced labor. Find more here
Jun 10,2024
Gov't urges Japan to retract 'unjustifiable' claim to Dokdo Island
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Jan. 23 urged the Japanese government to immediately withdraw its "unjustifiable" territorial claim to Dokdo Island.
Jan 25,2023
🎧 Culture minister urges Japan to keep pledge on island's history
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon on July 28 in a policy briefing to the National Assembly said, "Japan must first faithfully implement follow-up measures that it pledged in 2015, when Hashima (Battleship) Island was listed as a World Heritage Site."
Jul 29,2022
The Sado Island gold mines and UNESCO: Here we go again
Dr Peterson criticizes Japan' application for UNESCO World Heritage designation of mines on Sado Island in his latest op-ed. He says, "Abereportely wants to cleanse historical records of Japaness war crimes, yet pushing UNESCO recognition of a war crime site will have the opposite effect for Japan. Find more here
Feb 28,2022
🎧 FM tells UNESCO chief of Korea's concern over Japan's Sado mines
Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong has expressed to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay Korea's strong concern over Japan's bid to designate mines on Sado Island on as UNESCO World Heritage. Find more about their meeting in Paris
Feb 24,2022