Senegal urges dialogue in South Korea-Japan UNESCO row

Senegalese President Macky Sall urged South Korea and Japan on Thursday to resolve their dispute over Tokyo's controversial bid for UNESCO world heritage status for some of its past industrial facilities, saying his country will not take either side, the Yonhap reported.

As one of the five vice-chairs of the World Heritage Committee, Senegal is expected to have a considerable say at an annual committee meeting later this month, where the 21 member states, including South Korea and Japan, will decide whether to list the facilities as world heritage sites.

Japan has marked the 23 industrial zones, including coal mines and shipyards, as dating from 1850-1910, but South Korea argues the package includes seven sites where nearly 60,000 Koreans were forced to work in the 1940s when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule.

South Korea has demanded Japan remove the seven facilities from the list or take other measures to address its concerns.

A panel of civilian experts under UNESCO, called ICOMOS, recently recommended that the facilities be listed in a way that "allows understanding of the full history of each site."

The Senegalese president, who arrived in South Korea Wednesday on a four-day official visit, said the issue was discussed during his summit meeting with President Park Geun-hye earlier in the day.

"South Korea and Japan have friendly relations, so it is Senegal's position that it is important for South Korea and Japan to first hold dialogue," he said in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency.

If the two sides fail to resolve the issue through dialogue and the committee is left to decide by vote, Senegal could play a mediating role, he added.

"We could abstain or help bring the two countries to the table for further talks. Because talks are very important and we must have hope that a solution can be produced through talks," Sall said.

The president recalled a similar experience for Senegal, when Goree Island off the coast of Dakar was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1978 as a memorial to the Atlantic slave trade that took place there.

"In the end, we forgave, but that place wasn't forgotten and remained as a place remembered by humanity," he said.