“I think it is outrageous that they are trying to erase the history of the Peace Statue that has been in Berlin, Germany for the past four years, by suddenly saying they are going to remove it.”
Yang Chin-ja, co-representative of the Japanese citizens’ group “National Joint Action for the Solution of the Issue of Japan’s Military ‘Comfort Women’” (Joint Action), said this when we met in front of the German Embassy in Minato Ward, Tokyo, on the 7th. On the same day, the Joint Action visited the German Embassy in Japan to demand that the Mitte district office in Berlin, Germany, withdraw its policy of forcibly removing the Peace Statue from a public space in the district if it is not relocated to private land.
They met with embassy staff and handed over a letter stating that “as Japanese citizens, we oppose the policy of the Mitte Ward Office to remove the Peace Statue” and “please reflect on the profound significance of the Peace Statue and once again consider the lives and heartfelt feelings of the (comfort women) survivors”.
The letter stated that “the survivors who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II came forward half a century after the war to appeal to the whole world that wartime sexual violence is a war crime that must be eradicated and an act that causes the victims irreparable harm” and emphasized that “the Peace Statue is not just a memorial to the Japanese military ‘comfort women’, but also a monument with a very universal and modern meaning that gives strength to women who are suffering from sexual violence in wars and conflicts that are still happening around the world today”. The letter was signed by 39 civic groups and 562 individuals in Japan.
Mitte district office in Berlin, Germany, has stated that “the ‘Peace Statue’ is only permitted temporarily on public land as a private work of art or memorial” and has demanded that the statue be moved to private land. They have also made it clear that if the statue is not moved to private land, they will forcibly remove it. However, the Korea Council, a citizens’ group in Germany that led the campaign to have the statue installed in this area, has strongly opposed the plan to move the statue, and on the 20th of last month, the Mitte district council passed a resolution with the gist of “keeping the statue in its current location”. However, this resolution is not binding. In response to this, a citizens’ group in Japan also held a rally and called on the Mitte Ward Office to withdraw its policy of relocating the statue to private land.
The joint action stated that “the current actions and words of the Japanese government are the opposite of those of the German government, which is actively working to face up to the past, remember and educate about it, and prevent the repetition of past mistakes. statue is being promoted as if it were fueling the conflict between Japan and Korea, but if there is a conflict between Japan and Korea, it is the friction caused by the Japanese government, which does not openly acknowledge its own wrongdoing and repeatedly makes comments and takes actions that undermine the victims.
After meeting with the German embassy, Yang told Hankyoreh, “The German embassy in Japan did not express a separate position, but said that they would convey our letter to the Berlin city and Mitte ward offices.” The joint action is also planning to send a letter to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, requesting a solution to the problem of removing the “Peace Girl Statue.”
Hagyore
