In this Nov 10, 2021 file photo, Hirokazu Matsuno (second left), chief cabinet secretary, along with others depart the prime minister's office as they head to the certification ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. (KAZUHIRO NOGI / AFP)
TOKYO – Japan on Tuesday said it would seek a gold and silver mine site on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture to be nominated for the 2023 UNESCO World Heritage list, despite vehement protests from the Republic of Korea about the plan due to the site's connections to wartime labor.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved a plan to seek the listing of the Sado gold mine, meaning a letter of recommendation will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by the deadline on Tuesday.
South Korea has said it was "deplorable" that Japan was seeking the listing of the mine by UNESCO, where Korean nationals were forcibly subjected to brutal labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula
"We will engage in dialogue with South Korea and other nations calmly and politely so the value of the site as a cultural asset will be recognized," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press briefing on the matter.
The ROK is also known as South Korea.
"A task force will be set up by Japan to make preparations for the selection process which will include deliberations over the site's historical background," Matsuno said.
The ROK has said it was "deplorable" that Japan was seeking the listing of the mine by UNESCO, where Korean nationals were forcibly subjected to brutal labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.
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The ROK has demanded that Japan's plan for the site to be nominated for the 2023 UNESCO World Heritage list to be immediately revoked.
Japan is hoping that a UNESCO advisory body will survey the mine site this autumn and decide around May next year whether or not it warrants adding the site to the list.
Thereafter, the World Heritage Committee will examine the advisory board's opinion in the summer.
But owing to ROK's unwavering opposition, it could well be the case that UNESCO will ditch the screening process and call for further negotiations on the matter between Japan and ROK.
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