Due to painful lives Korean had been experienced, South Korea initially opposed the addition of the Hashima Island to the UNESCO World Heritage site. The Korean government asked the Japanese government to acknowledge the historical fact that Korean forced laborers were used on the island during World War II and mention it publicly.
Therefore, Japan acknowledged the tragic history of the island and announced before the approval of Hashima Island that “there were 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 [including Hashima Island]” (Aljazeera).
Later, when Hashima Island was approved as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Fumio Kishida, the Japanese Foreign Minister, publicly announced that the remarks [forced to work under harsh conditions] by the Japanese government representative did not mean “forced labor”, but Korean and others voluntarily worked on the Hashima Island (Gil). Japanese government changed their statements right after the approval and has ignored the painful lives from victims. Japan’s actions are unethical.
During the continuous debate between Japan and South Korea, Japanese government gave the similar examples of the Zollverein and Auschwitz Concentration Camps from Germany to keep UNESCO from changing their decision because Japan wants to keep the honorable title of Hashima Island to develop it’s economy. The Germany’s Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex was once Europe’s largest coal mining complex. Similar with the Hashima Island, Zollverein was listed as a World Heritage site in 2001. Despite the fact that many people were forced into labor during the Second World War (Siemons).
On he other hand, Germany’s response was different from Japan’s. An ambassador Choi of Korea emphasized that “the Germany has squarely faced injustices it had committed during the war and strived to compensate the victims for their sufferings” (Siemons). Germany treated the victims differently and apologized to them for the painful past. Another example is the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. It is established near the Polish city, Oswiecim, and was the largest camps among the all Nazi death camps (Jewish Virtual Library). During the Second World War, thousands of people lost their lives at Auschwitz.
According to historians and analysts, “the number of people murdered at Auschwitz somewhere between 2. 1 million to 4 million” (Jewish Virtual Library). The majority of people were Jews, and they died from starvation, forced labor, and heinous medical experiments. Poland founded a museum in 1947. Including the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, these places were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, in order for people to remember history. Later, the German government apologized for what they had done in the past and have visited the museum and Auschwitz camps often.
Moreover, German students have to learn the history of Auschwitz in their textbooks and they visit the museum and camps as their field trips. Unlike Japan’s arguments, German government has different and righteous actions. Japanese government should learn from German government’s actions that acknowledging the past and compensating victims. Some people have argued that the decrease in Hashima Island’s reputation and tourism revenue in Japan’s economy are the important reasons why Japan denied to tell the truth. Hence, Japan is not willing to apologize to the victims from the past.
This has not been the case, for instance, with Germany. Even though the German government acknowledged what they had done to the victims and apologized to them, Zollverein has been still keeping its reputation and generating many visitors who contribute to make a gross turnover of 68. 4 million Euros (Bosch). Also, the majority of Zollverein visitors mention that they would recommend the tourist and cultural offers at Zollverein (Bosch). Acceptance of historical facts is not harmful to the reputation and revenue.
Instead, it promotes the place, making it more valuable, and helps the country look more ethical and righteous. Unlike the Germans, most of the Japanese really do not know the truth; the negative side of the history of Hashima Island. They are unware of the fact that many Koreans and Chinese were forced to work on the island. At school, students do not learn about the dark sides of Hashima Island. One of the Japanese students says that “I don’t know about forced labor because I didn’t learn about it at school (Arirang).
The Japanese only recognize or know the good parts of the island that this place is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so that they are proud of their country. Due to the unawareness of the Japanese, Korea has been trying to continue to publicize the truth to Japanese society by creating organization such as Hashima Island’s Victims Family Association. The organization gathers some Japanese, talks about the truth of Hashima Island, and narrates real stories from survivors. People who listen to the facts say that Japan should apologize Korea and make people know the truth.
Even though Korea has been trying to tell Japan not to ignore the facts, Japan still ignores what they have done in the past and tries to hide the truth. Japanese government thinks only themselves. One of the Japanese says that “I think forced labor is just an inevitable part of history because anything can happen during war” (Arirang). It is true that forced labor can happen during war and it is inevitable. However, telling the truth and apologizing are important as well. If someone did something wrong, they need to take responsibility.
Japan did harm to the Korean miners physically and mentally. Japan damaged their mind and their soul. Therefore, Japan should acknowledge the historical facts and apologize to the victims. Not only that, Japan should compensate the victims for their suffering. Becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site is marvelous and important. It has many benefits such as receiving an honorable title and promoting the country’s economy. Many countries have a strong desire to make their places as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
No one can deny that getting ratification of UNESCO World Heritage sites is difficult. Even though it is tough and needs many efforts to receive approval, hiding the truth and ignoring the historical facts from the places is not ethical and righteous, but really selfish. Receiving the title or approval is not the end. It is significantly important that the places should not have any secret stories. Hence, Hashima Island should no longer have a secret. Japan has to acknowledge the historical facts by telling the truth to everyone and apologize and compensate the victims.
