Japan has won UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Status for 23 industrial sites after conceding to South Korea's demand that the registration make clear that some of the locations used forced laborers from the Korean Peninsula.
But in their official remarks and statements, Japanese officials avoided using the phrase kyosei rodo (forced labor), and instead used hatarakasareta (were forced to work), which is a more colloquial Japanese expression.
By using this phrase for the domestic audience, Japanese officials were apparently trying to dilute the impression that Tokyo bowed to pressure from South Korea.
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