Japan's world heritage bid for Sado mine tests Korea's diplomacy

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sun, December 3, 2023 | 20:36

Foreign Affairs

Japan's world heritage bid for Sado mine tests Korea's diplomacy

Posted : 2022-02-03 17:02

Updated : 2022-02-04 09:13

The Sado gold mine / Korea Times photo

Foreign Minister strongly protests Tokyo's UNESCO bid

By Kang Seung-woo

South Korea has once again found itself in need of mobilizing all of its diplomatic ability to bring Japan's flawed perception of history to light as Tokyo seeks to add a controversial wartime site to next year's United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage list. The issue will inevitably add fuel to already-strained ties between the neighboring countries.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida / AFP-Yonhap

On Tuesday, the Japanese government submitted a letter of recommendation for a gold mine on Sado Island to UNESCO following approval from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week despite strong protests from Korea.

The Sado mine was one of the world's largest producers of gold in the 17th century, but was turned into a facility to produce war-related materials during World War II. It was closed down in 1989. According to historical documents, as many as 2,000 Koreans were forced to labor in the mine.

If all goes as scheduled, UNESCO will send its advisory body to inspect the mine site this fall and decide around May of next year whether to add it to the list. The World Heritage Committee will then screen its opinion that summer.

To this end, Japan plans to form a task force to calm protests from South Korea and other nations.

In response to Japan's efforts, the South Korean government has expressed strong regret, while also setting up a task force.

On Thursday, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke on the phone with his Japanese counterpart Hayashi Yoshimasa to protest the UNESCO bid, while Cheong Wa Dae said it will respond to the Japanese move in a systematic and multi-directional manner.

Diplomatic observers say that South Korea needs to recall its strategy employed in 2015 when Japan sought to designate 23 sites of its Meiji Industrial Revolution as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They included Hashima Island, known as "Battleship Island" in South Korea, where it is believed between 500 and 800 Koreans were forced to work between 1943 and 1945, while 122 of them died.

Although Japan got UNESCO's nod, the South Korean government concentrated its efforts on the UN agency urging Japan to acknowledge the use of wartime forced labor. UNESCO ordered Japan to prepare an interpretive strategy that allows an understanding of the full history of each site by Dec. 1, 2022 ― although the Japanese government has yet to implement the recommendations to acknowledge the use of forced labor.

"Although it may be seen as absurd for the South Korean government to go all out to prevent Japan from seeking a UNESCO World Heritage listing, it is mainly due to Japan's failure to mention that Koreans toiled on Hashima Island, raising concerns that the country may omit to mention the use of its wartime forced laborers," said Lee Won-deog, a professor of Japanese studies at Kookmin University.

"The South Korean government is required to set its sights on getting the Japanese government to refer to its wartime use of Korean laborers at the Sado mine, which is its primary goal, rather than stopping Japan from adding the site to the UNESCO list."

However, a possible disadvantage is the fact that South Korea is not part of the 21-member World Heritage Committee, which includes Japan. In addition, Japan has a bigger say in the organization because it shoulders the second-largest share of UNESCO's regular budget next to China.

Japan also faces a burden in pushing ahead with the nomination plan, while hurting trilateral cooperation with South Korea and the United States against North Korea's increasing nuclear threats and other regional challenges.

According to Japan's Nikkei, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken and the Japanese foreign minister held a phone conversation, Wednesday, and discussed South Korea-Japan ties among others, but it added that the issue of the Sado mine was not on the agenda.

"As the UNESCO issue may further frustrate the U.S. government, which is seeking a three-way security cooperation on North Korea's nuclear issue, it may get on the Kishida Cabinet's nerves," Lee said.

Since its inauguration in January 2021, the Joe Biden administration has sought a trilateral defense cooperation, but to no avail due to frayed ties between its two key allies.

South Korea-Japan ties have been at their lowest level in years over historical and territorial issues.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr