The Sado mine complex on Sado Island in Niigata prefecture of Japan has suddenly become world-famous. On Saturday, the 46th UNESCO World Heritage Committee in New Delhi, India decided to list the complex as a World Heritage site. Japan had sought to register it since December 2021 but had not succeeded, mainly due to strong opposition from South Korea. But recently there has been a big change in Korea’s position and Japan succeeded. In Japan, national leaders, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, are congratulating themselves. In Korea however, disappointment, resentment and anger are growing daily over the decision. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea has characterized the decision as a diplomatic disaster by the Korean government and premonished a fact-finding process. Why are Koreans angry about Japan's Sado mine complex?

The story dates back to 2015 when Japan was trying to register 23 sites of Japan's Industrial Revolution during the Meiji period (1868-1912) as World Heritage sites. Some sites, including Hashima Island off Nagasaki, were in question. Korea argued that the island was a place where hundreds of Koreans were forcibly brought and made to work under harsh conditions from around 1940 and that Japan must let people know about it. There were some uncomfortable negotiations between the two neighbors, and Japan finally promised to inform tourists that hundreds of Koreans were "forcibly mobilized" for labor "against their will." Korea agreed, and Hashima Island was listed as a World Heritage site. But then a bigger problem occurred after the listing: Japan broke its promise.

Japan did not inform tourists about the forced mobilization of Koreans. Korea strongly protested. In 2018, even an advisory group of UNESCO adopted a resolution urging Japan to abide by its promise. In 2020, Japan took some measures related to the dispute, presenting some points at an Exhibition Hall in Tokyo. However, Japan took the attitude of denying the forced mobilization by displaying content arguing that Korean workers had not been discriminated against. It merely introduced the 2015 remarks made by the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO, which included some words acknowledging forced mobilization. However, it is unlikely that many tourists would listen to the ambassador's remarks. Japan used a deceptive trick to mock both Koreans and UNESCO officials.

In November 2021, Japan again made a provocation against the Korean people. It launched a national project to list the Sado mine complex, which has a history similar to that of Hashima Island, as a World Heritage site. An estimated over 1,500 Koreans were brought to the mine in the 1940s and forced to work under brutal conditions. The Korean government responded that Japan's attitude regarding Hashima Island must first change. Without the support of Korea, the registration would not likely be successful. However, with the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol government in Korea in May 2022, the situation changed dramatically. Korea retreated significantly from its position on the Sado mines, and Japan achieved its diplomatic goal.

Japan indeed showed some sincerity during the negotiations this time. The Korean government demanded two things. One is that the entire history of the Sado mines should be addressed, not just a specific period, and that actions to do so should be taken in advance. Japan accepted the first part. And it promised to hold a memorial service for the Korean victims in the future. Japan mentioned Korean laborers at a small local exhibition hall set up by Japan 2 kilometers from the Sado mine complex site. In the hall, it was written that Korean laborers were assigned harsher work than the Japanese laborers.

However, there is a critical flaw in Japan's actions. The expression that Korean laborers were forcibly mobilized was excluded. If there is no expression of "forced mobilization," the principle of reflecting the entire history will collapse. In particular, the term "workers from the Korean Peninsula" was used to deny the fact of forced mobilization under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet in the past. This historical denialism is not new. In April 2021, a Japanese cabinet meeting decided that, regarding the issue of the forced mobilization of Koreans, it is appropriate to express it as "mobilization" instead of "forced mobilization." It seemed that the Korean government was cheated in the name of the Japanese government's project of historical revisionism. Such doubts are gaining more credibility based on a report by a Japanese newspaper.

In a recent report, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that Korea and Japan agreed not to use the expression of "forced mobilization" through preliminary negotiations. The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs instantly denied this agreement, but the Japanese side practically admitted it, saying it would refrain from commenting in detail about the diplomatic dialogue. The Korean government's explanation also means the report is not baseless. The Korean government said the issue of whether the mobilization was forced was not discussed in these negotiations as it was already settled in 2015. This argument is logically plausible but absurd in practice. If the issue was resolved in 2015, the expression of it should be written in the exhibition hall. In other words, it can be interpreted that the Japanese government acknowledged the forced mobilization in 2015, but it took advantage of the pro-Japanese stance of the Yoon Suk Yeol government and changed its position in order to to deny it.

The issue of forced mobilization is part of the tragic history between Korea and Japan during the Japanese colonial period. The correct answer for resolving it is that Japan has made a clean apology, and Korea has accepted it generously. Japan once admitted to the issue, but now it tries to deny it, since it got what it wanted. It is a gimmick, which in the long run leads to self-harm. The Korean government seems to be supporting Japan. It is simply a fool’s game that makes people disappointed, resentful and angry. Korea must demand Japan recognize the facts of the inhumane tragedy of forced mobilization, and Japan should immediately accept it. Otherwise, reconciliation between Korea and Japan will be nothing more than a pipe dream.

Wang Son-taek

Wang Son-taek is an adjunct professor at Sogang University. He is a former diplomatic correspondent at YTN and a former research associate at Yeosijae. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.