South Korea will continue to consult with Japan about the exhibits on an old Japanese mine complex listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, in ways that will better show its history of wartime forced labor, Seoul’s top diplomat said Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul made the remarks as criticism has persisted over the government’s negotiations with Japan on the Sado gold and silver mines in the lead-up to the site’s UNESCO inscription in late July.

“We think that the negotiations over improving the exhibits should continue,” Cho said during a parliamentary session. “We will negotiate with Japan while considering how much we can enhance the content of the Sado mine exhibits.”

Seoul gave consent to the inscription after Tokyo agreed to set up the exhibits on its history and hold a regular memorial service to honor the forced labor victims.

But critics have said the exhibits, installed at a local history museum near the Sado mines, lack descriptions of the coercive nature of the mobilization.

“To what
extent the upgrade of the content of the exhibits will be done will be a matter of careful consideration during negotiations,” Cho said.

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul speaks during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2024. (Yonhap)

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul speaks during a parliamentary session at the National Assembly in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2024. (Yonhap)

The minister said the memorial service Japan has promised to hold to honor the forced labor victims at the Sado mines is unlikely to take place in September as expected, given the upcoming election in Japan later this month and other factors.

“We are discussing the date with the Japanese side,” Cho said.

Seoul officials had said Japan agreed to consider holding the memorial event around July and August every year.

Many Koreans were taken to toil at Japanese mines and factories during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Source: Yonhap News Agency