Japan sites gain UNESCO listing after agreement with S. Korea

BONN (PNA/Kyodo) – The UNESCO World Heritage Committee unanimously decided Sunday to add the "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution" to the World Cultural Heritage list after South Korea withdrew its opposition on condition that Japan publicly acknowledge that Koreans had been coerced to work at some of the sites during World War II. Under the decision at a meeting in Bonn, Germany, the 23 facilities in eight Japanese prefectures will be listed as proposed by Japan, without any changes. They represent Japan's industrialization over a period of just 50 years from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries by rapidly adopting Western technologies. The UNESCO committee decided the previous day to add eight historical sites in South Korea, including the Gongsan-Seong Fortress of the Baekje Dynasty.