November 20, 2013 11:49
Korea has been re-elected to membership of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to a four-year term for the third time. The decision was made in a ballot at the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris on Tuesday.
The term lasts from next month until 2017. Among the 12 countries that were newly included this time are the Philippines, Poland, Turkey and Vietnam.
Japan and Germany, which have been serving the role since 2011, end their terms in 2015. Korea has been a member twice already, from 1997 to 2003 and from 2005 to 2009.
The World Heritage Committee is composed of 21 of the agency's 190 member nations, who vote on the selection and preservation of world heritage sites and assets.
A decision by UNESCO to select a shipyard and other facilities where Koreans were forced into slave labor during World War II is expected in 2015.
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