South Korea becomes a member of the World Heritage Committee. What will be the impact on the registration of “Sado Island Gold Mine”?

The General Assembly of the Parties to the World Heritage Convention was held on the 22nd of last month at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, and Korea was elected as a member of the World Heritage Committee. The World Heritage Committee
As a decision-making body responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the World Heritage Convention, it has the authority to approve final registration on the World Heritage List. Currently, Japan is aiming to register the Sado Island Gold Mine in Niigata Prefecture as a World Cultural Heritage Site.
However, South Korea opposes the registration, claiming that forced labor was carried out by people from the Korean Peninsula. In response to South Korea being selected as a member of the committee, South Korean media reported, ``We should check Japan and strengthen South Korea's position.
Some believe that it will be possible to make a strong statement,'' (Yonhap News). The World Heritage Committee examines World Heritage candidates nominated by each country and
Examining whether or not it can be registered as a heritage site. The committee consists of a total of 21 countries. Member countries are allocated by region, and South Korea has been newly selected to fill one slot in Asia and Oceania, whose term ends this year.
Served. This is the fourth time that South Korea has served as a member country, following 1997-2003, 2005-2009, and 2013-2017. At this general meeting, in addition to Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam
A total of nine countries were newly selected as member countries, including South Africa and Kenya. The term of office is six years, but by convention, they are replaced every four years. The fact that South Korea was selected as a member of the committee this time indicates that Japan is aiming to
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this will have on the deliberations regarding the registration of the Sado Island Gold Mine as a World Cultural Heritage Site. “Sado Island Gold Mine” consists of two mining ruins: “Aikawa Tsuruko Gold Mine” and “Nishimikawa Gold Mine”.
composition. Niigata Prefecture and other prefectures are ``a rare mine in the world that developed a large-scale gold production system during the Edo period using traditional handicrafts different from those in Europe.''
It is said that at least 1,000 workers from the Korean Peninsula were mobilized to work at the Sado Gold Mine during the war to compensate for the labor shortage. South Korea
The Japanese government has deliberately set aside the history of forced labor on the Korean peninsula during Japan's colonial period by limiting the period from the 16th to the 19th century to include the Sado Gold Mine as a world cultural heritage site.
Criticized for excluding them and turning a blind eye to the "whole history" of heritage sites. They are opposed to aiming to have the Sado Island Gold Mine registered as a World Heritage Site in its current state.
South Korea also faced strong opposition when the ``Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution'' were registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2015. “Meiji Japan’s Industrial Revolution
Many workers from the Korean peninsula worked at the Hashima Coal Mine (Gunkanjima) in Nagasaki City, which is included in the National Heritage Site. For this reason, the Korean side asked the Japanese side to explain the situation of people from the Korean Peninsula at the time when it was registered as a World Heritage Site.
We request that an explanation be provided so that the situation can be understood. In response to this, Japan opened the "Industrial Heritage Information Center" in Tokyo in 2020. However, the South Korean side said, ``The center's exhibits are related to forced labor.''
"The damage suffered by people from the Korean peninsula has not been clearly explained, and the promises made at the time of registration have not been kept," he said. In response to this, UNESCO has issued a
adopted a resolution stating that the Japanese government's explanation was insufficient. The World Heritage Committee asked Japan to make improvements with the center's exhibits in mind and to report on progress. The Japanese government
In response to this, a conservation status report was submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee by the end of last year. In September of this year, the World Heritage Committee announced plans to strengthen the exhibits at the facility regarding the history of workers from the Korean Peninsula.
A resolution was adopted recognizing additional efforts made by Japan. Meanwhile, the resolution urged Japan to continue dialogue with relevant countries such as South Korea, and to report on future efforts by December 1 next year.
I am asking you to report. While the issue regarding the "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution" has not been completely resolved, the South Korean side has decided that the Sado Gold Mine, which also has a history of labor from the Korean peninsula, will be registered as a World Heritage Site.
He sees it as a problem to aim for records. However, in February last year, the Japanese government officially decided to recommend the Sado Island Gold Mine to UNESCO as a candidate for World Cultural Heritage. Looking forward to registration this year
However, UNESCO pointed out deficiencies in the submitted nomination form. Last July, the government announced that it had become difficult to achieve the registration goal of 2023. UNESCO viewed the problem as ``Nishimikawa.''
In January of this year, the Japanese government resubmitted the recommendation after correcting the parts that had been pointed out in the explanation about the traces of the headrace channel at the Gold Dust Mine. On the 30th of last month, Niigata Prefecture Governor Hideyo Hanazumi and Sado City Mayor Ryugo Watanabe held a meeting.
Visited Reims Paris and attended a seminar held at the Ambassador's Residence of the Permanent Mission of Japan to UNESCO. We promoted our cultural values to ambassadors from participating countries.
It is expected that next year's World Heritage Committee will decide whether or not to register the Sado Island Gold Mine as a World Heritage Site.
Regarding South Korea's selection as a member country of the World Heritage Committee, Korean media reported, ``It appears that there is an opportunity for South Korea to express its opinion as a member country'' (The Hankyoreh) and ``Korea's position has been clearly expressed.
``We expect that we will be able to proactively announce the change in the future,'' (KBS). On the 1st of this month, Ambassador to Japan Yoon Deok-min visited Sado Island's gold mine. According to Yonhap News, Ambassador Yoon
Based on the fact that confronting the painful history that exists between the two countries is the foundation of a future-oriented relationship, we are working to ensure that the entire history, including forced labor, is reflected when it is registered as a World Heritage Site. Japan
The government has reiterated its intention to continue dialogue with the government.