Japanese Cabinet approves bid for controversial mine for Unesco heritage

Feb 01, 2022 | News On Japan

Feb 01, 2022 (daijiworld.com) - The Japanese Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bid to push for a former gold mine linked to wartime forced labour to be included in the Unesco World Heritage list, according to a local media report.

Tokyo plans to deliver a letter of recommendation to the Unesco World Heritage Centre later in the day.

On January 27, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced plans to nominate the mine on Sado Island for the 2023 Unesco heritage list despite South Korea's strong protest.

The South Korean government immediately expressed "strong regret" over the decision and called in its Ambassador to Seoul Koichi Aiboshi to lodge a protest.

More than a thousand Koreans were forced into hard labour at the mine on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture.

The move is expected to deepen diplomatic rifts between Seoul and Tokyo over shared history.

Source: 日テレNEWS

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