The following is from a regular column by Rui Abiru that appeared in today's Sankei Shimbun titled ISLAND MIRRORGE promptly recommended.
This article also proves that he is a real journalist among working reporters.
It is a must-read for the Japanese people and people around the world.
The Cultural Council's selection late last year of "Island Mirage" (Niigata Prefecture) as a candidate for nomination as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has raised questions about the diplomatic stance of the Fumio Kishida cabinet.
Will Kishida's Cabinet be able to rebuff South Korea's demand that the island not be nominated as a World Heritage site, claiming that it is the site of forced labor by Koreans?
Or do you try to postpone it by avoiding the breeze?
"Achieving registration is of utmost importance. I want to consider what is effective for that purpose thoroughly."
Prime Minister Kishida told reporters on February 18.
However, the government has so far refrained from making a clear statement as the deadline for the nomination approaches on February 1, and local residents have voiced their hope that the government will not shelve or postpone the nomination.
Publicity campaign on Gunkanjima
In 2015, South Korea engaged in a misguided propaganda campaign to have the Hashima Island coal mine (commonly known as Gunkanjima) in Nagasaki Prefecture registered as a World Cultural Heritage site, demanding that the forced labor be clearly stated.
As Prime Minister Kishida, then foreign minister in Shinzo Abe's Cabinet, will remember vividly, South Korea ignored the agreement reached the Japan-Korea Foreign Ministers' Meeting and tried to have "forced labor" included in the statement.
In the prior agreement, a statement by the World Heritage Committee agreed that the Japanese side would make a specific concession to workers from the Korean Peninsula according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' proposal and make it "forced to work." However, the South Korean side has indicated that they will not be allowed to use the term "forced to work.
However, in the draft statement presented by the South Korean side, the wording of "forced labor," which Japan does not recognize, was written in two places.
At the direction of then Prime Minister Abe, then Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shinsuke Sugiyama (later Vice-Minister and Ambassador to the U.S.), who was in charge of the negotiations, questioned South Korea again. South Korea's Second Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs explained that it had shortened the phrase for convenience in the process of preparing the elements for the draft statement to be presented at the World Heritage Committee.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs records that Mr. Sugiyama approached the other party at this time.
"I'm convinced that South Korea is trying to do something malicious with forced labor."
In the end, South Korea modified its statement as agreed, but it was a close call.
Prime Minister Kishida, who was a party to this case and the Japan-Korea comfort women agreement, which confirmed the "final and irreversible resolution" of the comfort women issue, must be well aware of the futility of relying on South Korea's goodwill.
Let's debunk this head-on.
The Japanese government's reluctance to nominate the gold mine The Japanese government's reluctance to appoint the gold mine on Sado Island as a World Heritage site may be due to concerns that the nomination will "disturb the water" and reignite historical issues. However, as Mr. Abe pointed out at a meeting of the "Conservative Unity Group," a group of conservative members of the Liberal Democratic Party, on March 18, this is not the case.
"If we go through with it, will the situation change next year? We should thoroughly debunk the issue based on facts."
In April 2021, at the time of Yoshihide Suga's cabinet meeting, the government issued the following statement on whether or not people from the Korean Peninsula were forced into labor.
The Cabinet decided at a meeting in April 2021 whether people from the Korean peninsula were forced to work or not, stating, "Labor by 'recruitment,' 'government mediation,' and 'conscription' does not fall under the category of 'forced labor' under the Forced Labor Convention. It is not appropriate to describe these as 'forced labor.'
It is important to note that the government has decided that it is inappropriate to write "forced labor" in government documents and textbooks.
I hope that Prime Minister Kishida will break down this issue head-on.
(Editorial Writer and Political Editor)
The following is from an article that appeared in today's Sankei Shimbun.
Sado gold mine recommended for registration: Takaichi: "It's a matter of honor."
Sanae Takaichi, the chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party's policy research committee, said at a press conference on April 19 that "We must firmly accept the earnest feelings of everyone in Niigata Prefecture. I want the government to do its best to register".
She also stressed that the Japanese government must explain to the South Korean government through diplomatic channels about South Korea's opposition to the site's registration due to historical issues.
"We must openly make recommendations to UNESCO and explain to UNESCO experts. It is a matter of honor in Japan," she said.
