A set of mining facilities, where Koreans were forced into harsh labor during colonial rule, has been recommended to the Tokyo government for a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage designation.  

According to Kyodo News on Monday, a review committee of Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs reached the decision to propose the Sado mine in Niigata Prefecture as a candidate site. 

The report said the Japanese government will review through February 1 whether to submit the recommendation to UNESCO for the site’s inscription. 

If Tokyo does so, the UN body would decide on its designation in 2023 after deliberation and recommendation by the International Council on Monuments and Sites. The group provides the World Heritage Committee with evaluations of cultural and mixed properties proposed for inscription on the World Heritage List.

The Sado mine, which originally operated as gold mines, was turned into a facility to produce war-related materials, such as copper, iron and zinc, during World War Two.

The Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan estimated that at least one-thousand-200 Koreans were forced into treacherous working conditions at the mine during the war.

If Japan seeks inscription, the move will likely trigger conflict with Seoul similar to when Japan won UNESCO World Heritage status for 23 Meiji era industrial sites, seven of which were venues of Korean forced labor, including the Hashima Island coal mine and Nagasaki Shipyard.