Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mine on World Heritage List
Last Updated on July 28, 2024 9:47 am
The gold mine of Sado Island in the Sea of Japan has been added to the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
The Japan Times reported that UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in New Delhi on Saturday (July 27) began discussions on listing the mines on Sado Island in Niigata district based on Japan’s recommendation. The committee then unanimously voted to enroll.
Last June, Japan recommended to UNESCO that the Sado Island mines be registered as a World Cultural Heritage Site.
However, South Korea opposed the UNESCO registration of these mines in Sado, saying that people from the Korean Peninsula were forced to work there during World War II. Later, after talks with Tokyo, Seoul reached an agreement on this issue.
A representative of the Japanese government said his country would remember all the people who worked in the mines, especially those who came from the Korean peninsula, faithfully. It will also continue to work closely with South Korea to determine a strategy to comprehensively explain and display the history of mining at the exhibition site.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida thanked UNESCO for the move. In a statement on Saturday, he said, the gold mine of Sado Island has now become a global asset from Japan’s wealth. We will give maximum support to the local administration to protect the gold mines of this island.
Japan’s foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said in a statement that UNESCO’s move will make Sado Island’s gold mines more prominent in the world.