Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution, “Unfulfilled Promises”

In July 2015, the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution were inscribed on the World Heritage List during the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee (WHC). In deciding to inscribe the sites, the WHC took into account a statement that the Japanese government made during the WHC meeting. The Korean National Commission for UNESCO has now released a video urging the government of Japan to fully implement the follow-up measures that it promised in this statement.

At the time of the inscription, the government of Japan promised in the presence of the World Heritage Committee that it was "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" and that it was "prepared to incorporate appropriate measures … to remember the victims such as the establishment of information center." Regretfully, such measures have yet to be implemented.

In 2017 the Government of Japan announced a plan to establish an information center for industrial heritage during FY 2019 (April 2019 – March 2020). The Korean National Commission for UNESCO urges the government of Japan to carry out the promises it made in 2015 in good faith when establishing this information center.

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