VANK has launched a global campaign calling on the Japanese government to fully implement the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s decision and to present the full history of the Sado Mine, including the forced labor of Koreans during Japan’s colonial rule.
According to VANK on July 30, 2026, the campaign follows the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee, which recently reiterated its recommendation that Japan improve its interpretation and exhibition of the Sado Mine and faithfully reflect the site’s entire history throughout the full period of its operation.
Under the committee’s recommendation, Japan is required to submit a progress report by 2027, after which its implementation efforts will be reviewed again in 2028.
Beyond its historical significance as a major gold mining site during Japan’s Edo period, the Sado Mine is also remembered as the place where approximately 1,500 to 2,000 Koreans were forcibly mobilized and subjected to harsh labor during the Japanese colonial era.
When the site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2024, the Korean government agreed to the inscription on the condition that Japan would faithfully implement measures to present the history of the forced mobilization of Koreans, including exhibitions and memorial events.
However, criticism has continued both in Korea and abroad that Japan has failed to fulfill those commitments.
VANK has actively informed the international community since 2021, when Japan first sought World Heritage status for the Sado Mine, that the history of Korean forced labor was being deliberately excluded from the site’s narrative.
Following the site’s inscription in 2024, the organization has continued its efforts to raise awareness of Japan’s failure to honor its commitments and of ongoing historical distortion. The new campaign is an extension of those activities.
As part of the initiative, VANK plans to produce and distribute multilingual digital content, including card news and short-form videos, to help build international support for ensuring that Japan faithfully implements the World Heritage Committee’s decision.
“The UNESCO World Heritage List is not a place to commemorate only the glory of a particular nation, but a place that preserves the full history humanity must remember together,” Park said. “The Japanese government must faithfully honor its commitments to the international community and record history as it truly was.”