In a powerful global campaign, VANK is challenging Japan’s failure to honor commitments made during the Sado Mines’ UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription. The campaign aims to expose the systematic erasure of forced Korean labor history and call for international solidarity.

Despite promises to present the “complete history” and create memorial events honoring forced laborers, Japan has fallen short of its pledges. 

A recent memorial ceremony in Niigata Prefecture revealed deep-seated historical insensitivity, with a Yasukuni Shrine representative attending and no invitations extended to victims’ families.

“Repeated promise-breaking, as seen in Sado Mines and previously in Gunkanjima, not only damages international trust but threatens the legitimacy of Japan’s heritage site inscriptions,” says Director Park Ki-tae. He emphasizes that “facing the truth and establishing justice is a promise for a better tomorrow for all of us.”

Youth Researcher Seong Hye-seung adds a powerful perspective: “Our history is built on a foundation of truth and justice. Japan’s actions fundamentally undermine the universal values of World Heritage Sites, representing clear historical distortion and another act of aggression against Korea.”

The campaign poster symbolically depicts mining pickaxes revealing hidden truths, with pickaxes exposing not minerals, but the silenced stories of Korean laborers. By creating multilingual posters, VANK aims to amplify the voices of forced labor victims and challenge Japan’s historical narrative.

VANK calls on the international community to hold Japan accountable, ensuring World Heritage Sites truly represent universal human values and respect for historical truth.