Here’s another article about the World Heritage site issue:
“The Miike coal mine, which straddles Kumamoto and Fukuoka prefectures, is among the ‘Sites of the Meiji Industrial Revolution’ that were endorsed for listing as a World Heritage site by a UNESCO advisory panel, the Japanese government said on May 4.”
The proposal is not without controversy. Korea has voiced concern about the history of forced labor at some of the sites, including the Miike site in Kumamoto. Here’s something from an article on the Miike coal mine:
“When the Japanese military machine invaded China in 1931, many of the labourers working in the mine were taken as cannon-fodder. The resulting shortage of labour became acute and, in order to make up the shortfall, the company used Koreans and, later, Chinese prisoners of war. In reality these people were subjected to the same harsh treatment that had been meted out to the former prisoners.”
http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu35ie/uu35ie0f.htm
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201505060059
