The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has turned the dispute over Japan’s Sado Island Gold Mines into a recurring diplomatic issue that South Korea and Japan will have to manage even as their broader relationship continues to deepen.

The dispute is back on the diplomatic agenda as South Korea hosts the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Busan. The committee is due to consider a draft assessment that found Japan had not yet done enough to present the mines’ full history, including the experiences of Korean workers mobilized during Japan’s colonial rule.

UNESCO’s monitoring