South Korea will press Japan this week to drop its bid to have some early industrial sites linked to wartime atrocities registered as UNESCO's world heritage, Foreign Ministry officials said Monday.
  

Senior diplomats from the neighboring countries plan to hold their second round of talks on the issue, yet another legacy of Japan's imperialistic past dating back to World War II, in Seoul on Tuesday.
  

Japan has sought to win UNESCO's recognition for 23 locales including mines, shipyards and factories, saying those represent a foundation for the nation's modernization that began in 1910.
  

South Korea, backed by China, is strongly opposed to the campaign as seven of the candidate sites used tens of thousands of Koreans for forced labor in the 1940s.
  

South Korea wants Japan to withdraw its application as the facilities fail to meet the standard of "outstanding value" to humanity.
  

If Tokyo would press ahead with the listing, it should clarify relevant historic backgrounds in formal documents, officials here said.
  

"Action Japan should take has to be included in a (possible) decision to list (the sites) as UNESCO world heritage," Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul told reporters. "And Japan should put that into action."
  

A UNESCO experts' group, called ICOMOS, has also advised Japan to disclose the "full history of each site."
  

It remains uncertain whether Japan will accept the recommendation, given the Shinzo Abe administration's questionable stance on history.
  

"Through negotiations, the government will try to make the case that Japan should respect the spirit of UNESCO world heritage, albeit belatedly," another ministry official said.
  

Like in the previous meeting held in Tokyo in late May, South Korea will be represented by Choi Jong-moon, ambassador for cultural and UNESCO affairs and his Japanese counterpart will be Jun Shimmi, the foreign ministry's director-general for cultural affairs.
  

The 21-member World Heritage Committee plans to make a decision on Japan's drive in a meeting to open in Bonn, Germany, on June 28. Government officials from both South Korea and Japan will attend the session. (Yonhap)