The Sado mine on Niigata Prefecture Sado Island was the place famous for gold mine in the edo period (1603~1868). During the Pacific War occurred by the Japanese empire, it is used of mine securing copper, iron, zinc, etc, it is also a site where Koreans were forced to work and suffered from labor. In 2015, Japan registered the Hashima coal mine as a world heritage andpromised to properly inform the historical facts related to forced labor. But they didn’t carry out, so Korea government is strongly opposed to the registration of the Sado mine as a world heritage. Local media reported that the Japanese government has entered final coordination in the direction of recommending the Sado Mine, a site of the conscription of Koreans during the Japanese occupation, as a UNESCO World Heritage. On the same day, Kyodo News Agency cited a government official that "The Japanese government has entered final coordination toward recommending the Sado mine as a UNESCO World heritage." (Sisa Journal, 2022). 

(1) Contradiction of Japanese claims about World heritage registration Sado

  Mine is a mine on Sado Island in Japan Niigata Prefecture. During the Japan Edo period, it was famous for gold mine, but during the Pacific War, about 1,200 Koreans were forced to work in the process of mining copper and iron to procure war materials. But current Japan government is propelling UNESCO World heritage registration. Currently, South Korea more focused on the 45-year history that 1,200 Koreans were forced to work hard at the Sado Mine, demanding an official acknowledgment and apology for the horribly dark history that Japan skillfully eliminated. In the past, although, Japan introduced a World Record heritage clause stating, “If there is a country that opposes the registration, we will suspend the review and urge dialogue” to prevent the registration of the 'Nanjing Massacre', Japanis promoting Sado mine as a World heritage. This is an act of ignoring Korea's opinion, and if Japan trample Korea's opinion and force the Sado Mine’s World heritage, it will be difficult to avoid criticism of Japan's contradictory remarks about "double standard." Also, World heritage is meaningful by sharing its universal value with the international community and passing it on to future generations. Without fulfilling commitments with international organizations, Japan will be questioned of attitude about World heritage itself. (Korea Policy Briefing, 2022) 

(2) Japan's distortion of history which is against the society and morality

   Japan claimed that it was a world heritage site because it was produced with a large amount of high-quality gold in the Edo period, and recently applied for registration with UNESCO, hiding the historical facts that many Koreans were forced to work hard. In a summary of the documents submitted by Niigata Prefecture and Sado City to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Japanese government limited the period from the end of the Sengoku period (1467-1590) to the Edo period (1603-1876) and excluded the Japanese colonial period. Excluding the Japanese colonial era, where many Koreans were mobilized for forced labor, seems to be an attempt to hide the cruel history of imperialism. Furthermore, the Japanese government has failed to keep its promise to register warship islands as a World Heritage site in 2015 and to take measures to understand history, including forced mobilization, as a World Heritage site. 

 In response, Russia, a member of the World Heritage Committee, also criticized Japan's promotion of UNESCO World Heritage listing in the Sado mine. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mariya Zaharova said in a regular briefing on Feb. 9, "Japan seems to be taking sustained measures against South Korea and other countries to erase the crimes committed by Japanese leaders during World War II from human memory." In Japan, some pointed out the Japanese government's willingness to distort history and force the Sado mine to be listed as a World Heritage Site. (Yonhap News, 2022) In France's AFP on July 25, 2022, former UNESCO Secretary General Koichiro Matsuura said he should not make the same mistake as he did on a warship island.

(3) Concerns about advocating colonialism

   Japan's distortion of history does not fit the purpose of UNESCO's establishment. After two brutal world wars, the international community launched the United Nations (UN) to deter war. the international community then announced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for "a just and peaceful world when recognizing human dignity and equal rights." In 2001, the United Nations held a meeting in Durban, South Africa to eliminate racism and adopted the "Durban Declaration," which included "colonialism should be condemned and recurrence should be prevented." Since then, the international community has made great efforts to overcome colonialism. UNESCO, founded by the United Nations, has no choice but to promote human peace. Therefore, ignoring the dark history of the Sado Mine, which forced Koreans to supply war materials, and listing it as a UNESCO World Heritage site does not meet UNESCO's purpose to overcome colonialism and may lead to defending against colonialism. (National Research Institute for Ethnic Affairs, 2022)

 (4) Registration of ‘Tricks’ and Political Use to avoid Compulsory Mobilization Statement 

   According to the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan, the number of Koreans who were forced to be mobilized to labor at the Sado mine was about 1,200, and they had to work in poor surroundings without not being ensured health and wage. Due to the poor surroundings, some significant people suffered from sequela like pneumoconiosis after the compulsory labor ends. To register Sado mine as World Heritage by UNESCO rightfully, it is necessary to 

state the fact of compulsory labor in the imperial Japan era, but the Japanese Government is trying to evade the fact by limiting World Heritage Registration Period, ‘Edo Period’ before imperialism.

 The case of the Sado mine is not the first time among Japan's "deleting imperialism from cultural heritage". When the Japanese government previously register Hashima Island(The Battleship Island) as a Unesco World Heritage Site, they promised to specify the compulsory labor and to establish an information center, they have broken their word until 2022 now and even resisted Unesco’s expression of regret. In this situation, though it’s untrustful for the government of Japan to promise an exhaustive statement of compulsory mobilization history, they are gaming the system that avoids this entirely. Japan continues the behavior which is not adequate for the purpose of the World Heritage system, concealing its dark history. Also, it's clearly unfair to derive registration of another Unesco World Heritage which denies imperialist history amid the Japanese government’s failure to implement the promised statement of the Battle Ship Island compulsory labor history.

 Furthermore this registration promotion of the Sado mine as a World Heritage site has a close relationship with the Japanese administration’s interest. Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan’s major presses criticized that the registration promotion of the Sado mine is just taking advantage of culture politically and they also pointed out that taking political gain by creating a confrontation stance with the neighboring countries is weakening the nation. It means they put the purpose of using it politically since the countries directly involved, the Republic of Korea, North Korea, China, and Russia in conflict can not help protesting the attempt of Japan which intends to register the Sado mine, compulsory labor site as a World Heritage site by adopting an expedient. Like this, the Japanese Government aim to political interest by strengthening far-right historical revisionism in addition to two factors of rising approval ratings: Japan’s addition of World Heritage and conflict with neighboring countries, and this behavior do not fit as a World Heritage.

(5) Lack of evidence as a World Heritage Site

   Japan submitted An application requiring sado mine to be listed on the World Heritage List to UNESCO, but the recommendation target was limited only to the era before the Tokugawa period. nine heritages in three regions were minimized to three in two areas, except for all the heritages constructed after the second half of the Meiji period.

Japan insists sado mine is worth being accepted as a UNESCO World Heritage site for three reasons ; was vital money source of Tokugawa shogunate, world’s biggest gold mine at the time, famous for gold.

According to professor Kang-Dong-Jin of Kyungsung University, a member of the Korean Board of Directors of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), an advisory body to UNESCO, there are various opinions on the formation time of ‘Doyunowareto (道遊の割戸)’. It is considered the best scenery of the sado mine because of the V-shaped Valley up to 74m, therefore representing it. However, Doyunowareto can be excepted for the UNESCO heritage recommendation because of the theory suggesting that it was formed in the Meiji era, not Tokugawa. Also, sado mine in the Tokugawa era doesn’t have enough basis to be selected as a UNESCO World Heritage since it excepts the major mining facilities of sado mine constructed in the Meiji to the Showa era.

Just because it was the largest gold mine at the time at a certain time does not mean that it is the basis for registration as a World Heritage Site. An object that has influenced human development, has great significance in history, and shares the universal values of mankind is criteria to be selected. However, before the Meiji era- the time when developed mechanization facilities were not installed yet- countless workers lost their life due to dreadful working conditions.

Moreover, the recommendation letter that the Japanese government sent to UNESCO was not inspected by an advisory body. It suggests that application limited only to the Tokugawa era was an onerous measure to the Japanese government and they had trouble preparing for the whole document with a proper basis in the fixed deadline.

   Japan has endured without complying with UNESCO's recommendation to 'write the entire history about the warship island. In addition, Sado Mine, another spot of forced labor, uses a similar trick to limit the recommended time to the Edo period. However, the conditions for warships have changed significantly from when they were registered. In July of last year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee adopted a decision calling for improvement, stating that “the description of the Koreans who were mobilized in wartime is insufficient.” In the process of listing the records of the Nanjing Massacre in China as a World Heritage Site, the country's objection system, which was established by Japan's pressure on UNESCO, is also holding back. The prevailing observation is that it will be difficult to pass the examination unless the parties agree, that is if Korea does not approve the registration of the Sado Mine as a World Heritage Site. The Japanese government knows that it will face international humiliation in the process of reviewing the registration of the Sado mine, as it has betrayed the promise of the warship. If the Japanese government, which has been burdened both inside and outside, wants to register the Sado Mine, it will have no choice but to solve the backlog of warships and reach out to Korea first.