- Title: UNESCO-GERMANY UNESCO discuss Meiji World Heritage status
- Date: 3rd July 2015
- Summary: BONN, GERMANY (JULY 03, 2015) (REUTERS) PROTEST OUTSIDE CONFERENCE CENTRE IN BONN SOUTH KOREAN FLAG / BANNER READING (English): "UP TO NOW, NOTHING" AND "APOLOGY, REFLECTION" (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) CULTURE ASSETS INTERNATIONAL RETURN AGENCY SPOKESMAN, LEE SANG KEUN, SAYING: "The Japanese government made applications for UNESCO World Heritage status in 23 locations. Seven out
- Embargoed: 18th July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA9I2KY1IIV27SID5OTUPXL3OY5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Korean activists protested in Bonn on Friday (July 03) against Tokyo's bid to lift Japan's Meiji Revolution sites to World Heritage status as UNESCO discussed the issue.
UNESCO's advisory panel ICOMOS recommended in May the registration of 23 sites of the "Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution" built in the late 19th to early 20th century.
They played a pivotal role in Japan's rapid industrialization and adaptation of Western technologies, according to Tokyo's Cultural Affairs Agency, but the decision has driven strong opposition from Seoul as seven facilities where hundreds of thousands of Koreans were forced into slave labor under Japanese colonial rule are included in the list.
Among the sites are a shipyard in Nagasaki, a defunct coal mine in Hashima, a steel mill in Fukuoka and other facilities that are still in use.
South Korea argues that choosing those sites for World Heritage status brings painful memories to wartime Korean slave laborers, some of whom are still alive today, and therefore claim an apology from the Japanese government before proceeding with the move.
"The Japanese government made applications for Unesco World Heritage status in 23 locations. Seven out of the 23 were places used for forced work under World War II, and 14 year old girls were forced to work 10 metres underground for days. Up until now, the Japanese government has not apologised for that. Germany has recognised its fault and therefore apologized. And the Korean government wants the Japanese government to apologise as well for what they have to apologise for," Culture Assets International Return Agency spokesman Lee Sang Keun told Reuters outside the venue.
But a representative for Tokyo's Ministry of Foreign Affairs argued the two issues were to be treated apart.
"The so-called requisitioned civilian workers are different in terms of what we are presenting to the committee. We are talking about the first successful transfer of technology from the West to the non-Western countries between the 1850s to the 1910. So, in terms of the era and the historical context and backgrounds it is different from what they are discussing," the Japanese Foreign Ministry assistant press secretary Takako Ito said.
The delegates are to decide on the matter later on Friday. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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