The Japanese government was found to have no plans yet to fulfill an earlier pledge to commemorate South Koreans who were forced to labor for imperial Japan at its industrial sites that have since attained UNESCO World Heritage status.
According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry on Friday, the Japanese government updated on its web site earlier this week a report outlining its strategy on how to implement UNESCO’s advice to provide an understanding of the "full history” of each site, including Hashima Island, where hundreds of Koreans were forced to labor for imperial Japan.
Despite Tokyo’s promise to follow through with the advice, the report did not show much progress and only mentioned that the Japanese government consulted with experts on the issue.
The experts included scholars and specialists from Australia and the U.K., but not from South Korea, although UNESCO recommended Japan talk with the directly concerned parties. The report also did not offer details on the consultations.
A senior official at South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Seoul has continued to propose talks with Tokyo on the matter, but Japan has yet to respond.
In the report, Japan also said that a new exhibition center in Tokyo celebrating its industrial revolution showcases exhibits that explain the country's official stance that Japanese laborers faced the same harsh working conditions in those industrial sites as workers from other countries, including the Korean Peninsula.
The Seoul official said it is regrettable that Tokyo has made no mention of the foreign victims or Japan’s dark history.