Japan formally admits WW2 forced labor over new UN Heritage

Japan has succeeded to win world heritage status for its old-day industrial sites but had to admit that it conscripted Koreans into forced labor at some of the sites during World War Two.

Japan's Ambassador to UNESCO Kuni Sato admitted at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee under way in Bonn, Germany on Sunday, "There was a 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."

Sato's remarks came after the UNESCO committee decided to allow a package of Japan's 23 early industrial facilities, including shipyards and coal mines, onto the list of World Heritage sites.

Historians say it is the first time that Japan has officially acknowledged the existence of "forced" laborers at those industrial sites, mostly factories producing war supplies during the World War Two.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se has called the Japanese concession a diplomatic success, with many foreign diplomats sharing Yun's view.