Statue in memory of Korean “comfort women” in Busan surrounded by demonstrators and police
The power of a symbol can be seen in the simple dignified statue of a young Korean women. Such a statue was set up in 2011 in Seoul to commemorate the suffering of perhaps as many as 200,000 Korean women who were turned into sex slaves for the Japanese Army during World War II. The question of accountability for the war crimes committed against these women has been a huge diplomatic issue between South Korea and Japan for many years.
A year ago an agreement was reached between the governments of Japan and South Korea that included an apology and payment into a reparations fund, supposedly closing the chapter on this conflict. But activists said the victims were left out of the discussions, that Japan had taken no legal responsibility for what happened, and that Japan provided no direct compensation to the women. So they set up another statue outside the Japanese consulate in Busan.
Original statue set up in 2011 in front of Japanese embassy in Seoul
The Japanese government demanded the statue be removed, and the city of Busan removed it. But following a controversial visit of Japanese Prime Minister Abe to a war memorial local authorities reinstalled the statue. Japan then recalled their consul-general in Busan and ambassador to South Korea, demanding that the conditions of the earlier agreement be maintained.
Where this controversy goes remains to be seen. One thing that is evident, however, is that small symbols can have incredible impact. Such symbolic actions can be a major part of the nonviolent toolbox. Certainly in South Korea a small statue has garnered global attention to a long-standing issue of injustice that many feel has yet to be adequately addressed.
UPDATE
In October 2018 the city of Osaka in Japan ended a long Sister-City relationships with San Francisco in the United States. The cause of the rupture was San Francisco installing a sculpture titled “Women’s Column of Strength” remembering the “comfort women” from countries occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army and used as sex slaves.
The statue shows 3 women, from China, Korea, and the Philippines, with hands held in a circle facing out. An older woman stands apart representing Kim Hak-sun who was the first to speak out about her experiences during World War II.
The government officials in Osaka disputed some of the inferences on the plaque about the extent and impact of the sexual enslavement of the women in the occupied countries.
For the BBC story about the situation, click here.
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