Korea had beforehand rejected the UNECSCO bid over the mine’s darkish historical past and Japan’s failure to acknowledge it, which induced the nations’ bilateral ties to deteriorate.
Nevertheless, on the annual UNESCO World Heritage committee assembly held this weekend, member states together with South Korea gave unanimous assist for the inclusion after Japanese officers pledged to offer adequate info to recount the mine’s historical past.
Throughout the assembly, Japanese delegates stated the nation has already put in new exhibition materials “to clarify the extreme situations” of the Korean laborers, and acknowledged that the employees had been put to extra harmful duties within the mine shaft, inflicting some to die.
A memorial service for all the employees on the Sado Island gold mines might be held yearly on the website, the officers added.
Japan’s Overseas Minister Yoko Kamikawa stated in a press release that she was “really delighted” by Sado island’s designation, because it underscores its “extraordinary worth as an distinctive cultural heritage.”
In the meantime, the South Korean delegation stated it expects Japan to maintain its pledge to be truthful to historical past and to point out “each the brilliant and darkish aspect” of the Sado mine.
The Sado mine operated for almost 400 years and was as soon as the world’s largest gold producer earlier than closing in 1989.