Very recently, the 23 sites in
Japan, including Yawata steel mill and island coalmine
Gunkanjima, got world heritage status by Unesco.
They had contributed to
modernization and industrialization of Japan in Meiji period. In late 19th
century, Japan rapidly introduced continental technology to strengthen the
productivity. A burst of innovation
occurred to let Japan keep an independent country matching the Great Western powers.
It is honorable for Japanese to
get the certification of world heritage status. It will also attract the attention of tourists.
However, there was a tough
negotiation around the decision. South Korea and China had opposed the
authorization of this grant.
South Korea claimed that Japan had
to admit the fact that lots of Koreans were forced to work in such facilities
before the WWII. The UN body's panel in Germany postponed a decision for 24
hours for further discussion. Finally, Japan agreed to acknowledge the use of
conscripted labor.
Kuni Sato,
Japanese delegation to Unesco said "Japan is prepared to take measures
that allow an understanding that there were a large number of Koreans and
others who were brought against their will and forced to work under harsh
conditions in the 1940s at some of the sites."
He avoided using the term "forced labor," which Korea was strongly concerned. But he implicitly admitted
this fact.
This decision delighted local
people living around the placed subjected. Some people criticized that Japanese
delegation compromised too much.
Yoshihide Suga,
the chief cabinet secretary said "The government's position over those
recruited from Korea has not changed," According to Asahi Shimbun, he said
that the saying of Japanese delegation did not mean forced labor at all. He denied the adverse effect of this agreement on the
conflict against Korea in the future.
As a Japanese, I am happy that
Japanese cites were registered to world heritage. I understand the attitude of
Korean expressing the suffering having inflicted by Japan. I am not sure,
however, whether it is really beneficial for Korea in
a long-term way.
More or less, our civilization is
built on the vast sacrifices of other people. Many slaves were forced to work,
and even devote their lives to create Pyramid in Egypt, Great Wall in China,
and so on. I saw many artifacts in Great Britain Museum, a considerable amount of which were robbed from colonized countries. History
itself has a cruel characteristic. Seeing a World Heritage, we have to imagine this accumulation of the conflicts, and to respect
for the people in the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment