Japan's wartime industrial sites added to UNESCO heritage list Updated: 2015-07-06 15:54:01 KST
The World Heritage Committee listed Tokyo's wartime industrial facilities as UNESCO sites at its 39th session in Bonn, Germany, on Sunday.
The listing -- which follows months of negotiations between Korea and Japan -- comes with a set of preconditions.
(REUTERS)
"Japan is prepared to take measures that allow an understanding that there were a large number of Koreans and others who were brought against their will and forced to work under harsh conditions in the 1940s at some of the sites."
Japan's 23 industrial sites include seven coal mines and shipyards where nearly 60-thousand Koreans were forced into labor in the 1940s, during its colonial rule of Korea.
Tokyo had initially marked them as being operational from 1850 to 1910.
Japan also vowed to ensure the victims are remembered by establishing information centers at each site.
Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se welcomed the outcome, as it marks the first time that Tokyo has publicly acknowledged such cases of forced labor.
"We are pleased that Japan's wartime industrial facilities were listed as World Heritage sites in the form that takes account of our legitimate concerns."
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But tensions remain with Japan giving an ambiguous translation of its statement for its domestic audience.
(Japanese)
"The expression 'forced to work' does not mean forced labor."
('forced to work' .)
An official at Seoul's foreign ministry dismissed concerns, saying the English version of the statement has been officially adopted by the World Heritage Committee.
He added that Japan must also follow up by submitting a progress report by the end of 2017, which will be reviewed by the World Heritage Committee the following year.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=181167 If Japan's progress is deemed unsatisfactory, the sites could be removed from the UNESCO list.
Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News.
