Japan’s prized “golden island,” Sado Mine, is hell for some. During the Japanese colonial period, about 1,500 Koreans were forcibly mobilized, leaving their hometowns to work in harsh conditions on a remote island mine without proper human treatment.

According to a report by “Channel PNU” on September 27th, Sado Mine was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July, despite its history of forced labor. However, the Korean government has not yet raised this issue publicly with the Japanese government. Meanwhile, both domestically and internationally, voices are criticizing the Japanese government’s arrogant attitude in trying to erase criminal acts from the memory of people. Kim Min-Su (Prof. of History Education, PNU) emphasized that World Heritage sites should prioritize “shared human values.”

■The tragedy behind the golden island

Sado Mine is a gold mine located on Sado Island, northwest of Niigata Prefecture in Japan. Sado Island, once called the world’s largest gold producer in the 17th century, was used as a means to supply war materials after the Pacific War.

The fact that Koreans were forcibly mobilized to work at Sado Mine during the Japanese colonial period is well known. According to a 2017 academic seminar report by the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan on “Distortion of Forced Mobilization History in Japan’s World Heritage Site Application for Sado Mine,” clear evidence of forced mobilization can be found in documents such as the list of tobacco rations for Koreans and the list of designated age groups compiled by the Government-General of Korea. Even in the materials provided by Mitsubishi Mining, the war criminal company that operated Sado Mine at the time, evidence of Koreans being mobilized to Sado Mine was included. The “Korean Workers List,” which Japanese researchers secured and microfilmed in 1983 while organizing the local history of Niigata Prefecture, shows the overall situation of Korean workers at that time.

However, the Japanese government is ignoring the truth of Korean forced mobilization at Sado Mine. There was no discussion on historical issues, including Sado Mine, at the Korea-Japan summit, held on September 6th. Japan promised to hold an annual memorial service for Sado Mine workers starting this year in July or August in Sado, even though a clear list of Korean workers has not been secured. However, the date and location for this year’s event have not yet been finalized and discussions are still ongoing. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated, on July 27th, through the official residence website that it is “an invaluable cultural heritage unparalleled in the world” and expressed that he was “truly delighted.”

Ineffective response from the Korean government is also a controversial issue domestically. Although Sado Mine was registered as a World Heritage Site through negotiations between the Korean and Japanese governments, the Korean government is not officially speaking out despite Japan’s failure to implement the “installation of exhibits informing about Korean forced labor,” which was obtained as a result of the negotiations. Regarding this, Prof. Kim said “As a result, it seems that the Korean government has sided with the Japanese government, which is trying to cover up its dark past, considering the importance of improving the relations between Korea and Japan. Koreans should argue to the Japanese government that we should reflect on the wrong past of imperialism, by specifying the damage from colonization.”

The World Heritage listing of Sado Mine is also an issue criticized by third countries. The American diplomatic and security journal “The Diplomat” reported on August 7th that “We should look back on UNESCO’s spirit of peace and cooperation in this incident, and the distortion of history can never be tolerated.” Before Sado Mine was registered as a World Heritage Site in 2022, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova said, “Japan appears to be taking continuous measures against Korea and several other countries to erase the criminal acts committed by Japanese leaders during World War II from the memory of the people.”

Japanese media reactions to this are diverse. On August 4th, the Yomiuri Shimbun emphasized diplomatic efforts to resolve historical conflicts, saying that the UNESCO registration of Sado Mine “became possible thanks to the improvement of relations between Japan and Korea.” According to the Asahi Shimbun on July 30th, regarding the World Heritage listing of Sado Mine, they criticized the Japanese government, saying, “If the Japanese side had approached this with a serious attitude towards the history of hardship of those from the Korean Peninsula, wouldn’t the situation have been less complicated?”

■“Interest” is the key to preventing historical distortion

This is not the first time Japan has covered up crimes committed during the colonial period while packaging its industrial modernization heritage as a World Cultural Heritage. When Hashima Island, also known as The Battleship Island, was registered as a World Heritage Site in 2015, UNESCO recommended that Japan “take measures necessary to understand the history of the facilities,” but this has not been implemented.

In 2015, Japan registered 23 Meiji Industrial Revolution era heritage sites in eight prefectures of the Kyushu region as World Cultural Heritage sites, but seven of them became problematic as they were spaces where Koreans were forcibly conscripted. Notable examples include Hashima Coal Mine, Nagasaki Shipyard, Takashima Coal Mine, and Yahata Steel Works. According to the guidebook “Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution and Forced Labor” published in 2017, by The Center for Historical Truth, the Republic of Korea and Justice and Network for Fact Finding on Wartime Mobilization and Forced Labor, Japan, approximately 33,400 Koreans suffered from forced labor at related facilities.

Japan is also criticized because not all war criminal countries beautify their history through historical distortion like the Japanese government. A prime example is Germany, a World War II war criminal country, which has accepted its past responsibilities through reflective measures. It punished Nazi war criminals in the Nuremberg Trials, an international military tribunal, and continues to remember the past by establishing Holocaust Memorial Park and the Topography of Terror exhibition hall to commemorate the sacrificed Jews. In Berlin, “stumbling stones” can be found in front of the former homes of Nazi victims, a part of the “Stolpersteine Project” to remember the lives lost.

Experts emphasize it is important to prioritize “values to be shared” by humanity when registering World Heritage sites. This is because when only the proud heritage of each country is emphasized, results like Hashima Island, where past imperialist wrong doings are not recognized. Prof. Kim said, “UNESCO World Heritage and World Documentary Heritage sites are not just registered with beautiful heritage, but there are quite a few heritage sites that make us reflect on and contemplate human violence. In particular, values such as reflection on imperialism and colonial times should not be ignored.”

The most important thing to correct cases like the  Sado Mine is “interest” in history. Here, interest means not dismissing colonial history as a story of the past but having a heart of empathy and solidarity. Prof. Kim said, “Correcting distorted history stems from interest. IIf exchanges between civil societies in Korea and Japan proceed with interest, it could lead to changes in perception of historical issues within Japan as well.”

Reporter Seo Yoo-Jung

Translated by Seo Yoo-Jung