Persuasive Essay On Hashima Island

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
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