SEOUL, Feb 4 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s top diplomat, in phone talks with his Japanese counterpart yesterday, protested against Japan’s bid to put a war-linked mine, in the UNESCO heritage list, renewing diplomatic rows between Seoul and Tokyo over historical issues.
South Korean Foreign Minister, Chung Eui-yong, held phone talks with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, expressing deep disappointment with, and protesting against Japan’s push to nominate the controversial Sado mine, for the UNESCO World Heritage list, according to Seoul’s foreign ministry.
Chung said, the correct perception over history is the basis for future-oriented relations between South Korea and Japan, noting, the Sado mine represents the painful history relevant to wartime forced labour of Koreans during the 1910-1945 Japanese colonisation of the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean historians say, thousands of Koreans were forced by Imperial Japan into heavy labour for the gold and silver mines on Sado Island, which were turned into facilities to produce war-related materials, during World War II. The mine was shut down in 1989.
The Japanese government submitted the letter of recommendation for the mine to be listed in the UNESCO heritage earlier this week.
Chung urged Japan to fulfill its promise, to install an information centre on the forced labour of Koreans, at its existing UNESCO heritage sites, including Hashima Island.
The South Korean foreign minister also called on Japan, to take more active measures over historical issues, including the wartime forced labour and the sexual slavery of Korean women, during the colonisation, to seek solutions that can be accepted by the victims.– NNN-YONHAP
