Resources for the Memory of the World

From : MOWCAP Acting Secretary-General To: President of Korean Studies Institute Date : November 22, 2022 Subject: Re: Request from MOWCAP Concerning Naebang-gasa Item Dear President of KSI, We have received the following message from the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO: Dear ........ , Thank you for your message and sharing with us a response from the nominator. In our view, certain words used in the document No. 148 of Naebang-gasa go against the principle of the Memory of the World as harmful language, as you exactly pointed out in the previous message, with reference to Section K of the MOWCAP Register Process guidelines. It is regrettable for us that the nominator's response does not consider the principle of the MOWCAP Register in the same way and sticks to its own position. We would have to consult internally based on the response from the nominator, but under the current situation, and also given the time left before the General Meeting to be held this week, it is ...

From : MOWCAP Acting Secretary-General, November 17, 2022  To: President of Korean Studies Institute Dear President of KSI, We wish to bring to your attention the following request from MOWCAP RSC regarding certain words in Naebang-gasa, No. 148 that may be considered to violate MOWCAP Register Process guidelines, Section K. FORMALITIES FOR SUBMITTING NOMINATIONS "11. Objectivity. Every nomination stands on its own merits. Nominations should be based on fact, and written in impartial and objective language. The use of grandiose or unprovable claims, or derogatory, propagandistic or polemical language, is counter-productive and makes assessment more difficult. Any nomination form that uses inappropriate language, denigrating or insulting individuals, groups or nations will be returned to the nominator/s by the MOWCAP Secretary-General on the advice of the RSC for amendment. Nominators should be careful to word their nominations in a neutral and objective manner." In order to ...

Dear Bureau Members  I would like to update you on the situation regarding the 2022 round of nominations for the MOWCAP Register and to seek your approval for the next steps to be taken. As you will recall, 13 nominations were deemed admissible and their titles and summaries were posted on the MOWCAP website on 15 July. Japan requested copies of the full nomination dossiers and on 12 August submitted contestation forms (under other grounds) for 3 nominations: Initial Dasheng Spinning Factory (China) and Naebang-gasa and Samguk-yusa (Korea). However, they provided no grounds or reasons for contestation, and requested more time to examine the nominated documents, stating "The Government of Japan has a keen interest in whether there are any descriptions related to Japan in the nominated documentary heritage and, if so, their details. Therefore, the Government of Japan would like to request the nominating state to share the content of the nominated documentary heritage and also reque...

From: MOWCAP Secratary-General, September 25, 2022 To: MOWCAP Chair, MOWCAP Vice-chairs, MOWCAP/RSC Chair Subject: MOWCAP Secratary-General Role Dear colleagues, I am writing to let you know I have decided to step down as MOWCAP Secretary-General effective immediately. I have advised Kwibae to contact Joe from UNESCO Bangkok to confirm the possibility of Linh Anh acting in the SG role until at least after the MOWCAP General Meeting in November 2022. In terms of my reasons for this decision, the main factor is my unwillingness to continue to deal with the politics and negativity that I currently see surrounding the MoW/MOWCAP program.  I took on the SG MOWCAP role as I wanted to make a positive difference in our region. While I feel I have been able develop some positive programs—for example the MOWCAP-ACC grants which has delivered results for memory institutions from across the region—my time over the last 1.5 years (mostly weekends!) has been taken up dealing with petty issues r...

 From: MOWCAP Secretary-General, September 20, 2022 To: Japanese National Commission for UNESCO Subject: RE:RE: RE: Response to the inquiries on the 'Naebang-gasa' nomination Dear ........ ,  Thanks for your message. The attachment does not appear to be accessible? Can you please share again?  Regarding the incidental process, as I outlined clearly in our response to your email of the 12th of August 2022, the information contained in the contestation forms was too general to proceed. This is why we requested you to share more detailed information about the contestation by the 30th of September 2022. In the meantime, we have worked with colleagues nominating parties to provide access to the nominated material (which they have very kindly helped to do). This approach was taken in the spirit of cooperation dialogue which has been part of MOWCAP for the last 24 years.  If the Gov. of Japan would like to proceed with the three (3) contestations then please share the revi...

From: MOW National Committee, ROK, September 16, 2022 To: Japanese National Commissio for UNESCO Subject: FW: RE: Response to the inquiries on the 'Naebang-gasa' nomination Dear ........... and Colleagues, This is a response to your email dated September 6, 2022, and we would appreciate your understanding on this belated reply due to our long national holidays. We are informed that the information we provided was sufficient for you to access the text successfully.  In regards to your additional request for nominators’ assistance in reading and interpreting the texts of both Naebang-gasa and Samguk yusa, we believe that the task of such a nature should be undertaken by the party that has a need. The nominating institution is not required to take such a task, as your request will cause an extra workload of considerable time and large cost. As for Samguk yusa, please be informed that the text had been translated into Japanese: simply refer to the links listed below to acquire what...

Subject: Response from the Secretariat of the National Committee for MoW, ROK From: MOW National Committee, ROK, August 26, 2022 To: Japanese Embassy in Seoul, MOWCAP Secretary-General To whom it may concern, This email is to clear up the confusion that occurred in the course of communication between Japanese Embassy in Seoul(JES) and Korean Studies Institute(KSI).  An officer of JES had sent an email to KSI on August 24, inquiring some points in the document nominated for MOWCAP Register, to which a researcher of KSI declined to reply directly. The confusion was caused by the fact that JES had initiated the communication in accordance with the schedule arranged by MOWCAP Secretary General but had not disclosed it at first, while KSI had declined to reply directly with no information of such an arrangement.  Therefore, hoping the above description suffices to clear the confusion, both parties are now invited to communicate with each other, via National Committee for MoW, Repub...

Subject: Update on the MOWCAP Register Assessments 2022 From: MOWCAP Secretary-General, August 8, 2022 To: MOWCAP RSC members Attached: Response to points raised by Natcom Japan 18.08.2022 (1).pdf Confidential Letter from Natcom Japan to MOWCAP SG 12 August 2012.pdf Dear RSC colleagues, I hope this email finds you well. As you may be aware, as per the procedure outlined in the UNESCO Memory of the World Asia Pacific Regional Register Process, we invited comments from National MoW Committees/National Commissions/interested parties on the thirteen nominations which have been accepted for assessment as part of the 2022 regional register cycle. Following this process, we received the attached response from the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO (please keep this letter confidential).  After consultation with Helen and Kwibae, I shared the attached reply with the Japanese National Commission for UNESCO. As you can see it offers some constructive options on how we can hopefully addr...

Dear Sir/Madam, This is a response to the message sent by Japan and forwarded to the Republic of  Korea via email by the MoW Secretariat on August 2, wherein Japan stated its intention to maintain the contestations to two nominations by the Republic of Korea. Representing the National Committee for Memory of the World, Republic of Korea, I regret that my previous replies to the comments made by Japan transmitted via MoW Secretariat in June, did not resolve its concerns. It is my interpretation that Paragraph 8.6.5.2.1 of MoW’s General Guidelines is not  intended to allow a party to contest nominations from other parties indiscriminately, and that a contestation can be effective and sustainable only if the ‘other grounds’, based on which the contestations were made, are specified, with certain points of contention identified. Since Japan’s message does not disclose any point of contention, we are experiencing difficulties in figuring out to what points its contestations are dir...

From: MOW National Committee, Republic of Korea, August 12, 2022 To: MOW Secretariat Subject: Letter in response to the e-mail in August 2 Attached: 1 (105.2KB) Letter from the Chair of National Committee of MoW, ROK.pdf, 105.2KB Dear Sir/Madam, This is a reply to your email dated August 2, received with an attached letter from the Japanese Permanent Delegation to UNESCO, in which you advised us to initiate a bilateral dialogue with a view to resolving the issues at hand. Please allow us to send this reply to your office, not directly to the Japanese delegation to whom we hope the attached letter will be transmitted, for the following reasons. We find that the Japanese claim for maintaining the contestation is not sustainable, for it lacks ‘the reasons advanced’ for contesting on other grounds as stipulated in Paragraph 8.6.5.2.1. It is unimaginable that the General Guidelines allow a Member State to examine the documentary heritage nominated by another Member State without any identif...

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing this letter in response to third-party comments made by Japan and forwarded to the Republic of Korea via email by the MoW Secretariat on June 13. The comments concern The Archives of the Donghak Peasant Revolution, a nomination the Republic of Korea has submitted for evaluation during the 2022–2023 cycle.  Upon receipt of the comments, the MoW National Committee of the Republic of Korea engaged in thorough consultations with the nominator and is now submitting on their behalf information pertaining to the comments as below.  Among the nominated documentary materials comprising The Archives of the Donghak Peasant Revolution, nine items have been confirmed to refer to Japan or have been produced by the Japanese legation in Seoul. The majority of these nine items are publicly accessible. The details of the nine items are presented below. Item 1. A documentary material entitled “Letters of Japanese Military Commanders” and identified as No. 30 of Secti...

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing this letter in response to third-party comments made by Japan and forwarded to the Republic of Korea via email by the MoW Secretariat on June 13. The comments concern The Archives of the April 19 Revolution, a nomination the Republic of Korea has submitted for evaluation during the 2022–2023 cycle.  Upon the receipt of the comments, the MoW National Committee of the Republic of Korea engaged in thorough consultations with the nominator and is now submitting on their behalf information pertaining to the comments as below.  Among the nominated documentary materials comprising The Archives of the April 19 Revolution, four items have been confirmed to refer to or have been produced in Japan. These four documentary materials are all publicly accessible in printed or digital form. The details of these four items are presented below.  Item 1. A statement entitled “To Patriotic Student Heroes in the Fatherland” and identified as No. 12 of Section 4-1 ...

INTERNATIONAL MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER COMMENT OR CONTESTATION ON A CURRENT NOMINATION IDENTIFICATION OF THE NOMINATION  120: Archives of the Donghak Peasant Revolution NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS OF THE COMMENTATOR (PLEASE INDICATE WHETHER INDIVIDUAL, ORGANIZATION OR MEMBER STATE) ........, Counsellor, Delegation of Japan to UNESCO Email: ........@mofa.go.jp TICK WHETHER COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, AND/OR CONTESTATION Comments: [   ] Additional information: [ ✓  ] Contestation: [✓] SUMMARY OF THE COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND/OR CONTESTATION The Government of Japan requests the nominating state to share the content of the nominated documentary heritage and also requests the assessment process of this nomination to be suspended in the meantime. DETAIL OF THE COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND/OR CONTESTATION REFERENCED TO THE CONTENT OR ADMISSIBILITY AND SELECTION CRITERIA The Donghak Peasant Revolution is an event in which Japan was deeply involved a...

 INTERNATIONAL MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER COMMENT OR CONTESTATION ON A CURRENT NOMINATION IDENTIFICATION OF THE NOMINATION  119: Archives of the April 19 Revolution NAME AND CONTACT DETAILS OF THE COMMENTATOR (PLEASE INDICATE WHETHER INDIVIDUAL, ORGANIZATION OR MEMBER STATE) ............, Counsellor, Delegation of Japan to UNESCO Email: .........@mofa.go.jp TICK WHETHER COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, AND/OR CONTESTATION Comments: [   ] Additional information: [ ✓  ] Contestation: [✓] SUMMARY OF THE COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND/OR CONTESTATION The Government of Japan requests the nominating state to share the content of the nominated documentary heritage and also requests the assessment process of this nomination to be suspended in the meantime. DETAIL OF THE COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND/OR CONTESTATION REFERENCED TO THE CONTENT OR ADMISSIBILITY AND SELECTION CRITERIA The Government of Japan has keen interest in whether Japan is referred to ...