Photo courtesy of Yonhap News
In response to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s request to Germany to remove the ‘Peace Girl’ statue, a symbol of Japanese military comfort women, installed in Berlin, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “It is not desirable for the Korean and Japanese governments to engage in private activities.” said.
An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, “I understand that the installation of statues of young girls abroad was carried out in accordance with the voluntary movement of the local community and civil society in order to commemorate and educate the issue of universal human rights violations such as sexual violence in wartime.”
Japan’s Sankei Shimbun reported that Prime Minister Kishida requested cooperation to remove the statue, saying, “It is regrettable that the comfort women statues are still installed in Germany” during a summit meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited Japan on the 28th of last month.
The Berlin Peace Girl Statue was installed in Birkenga, Moabit district, Mitte-gu, Berlin, in September 2020, supervised by the Korea Council, a civil society organization in Germany.
When the Japanese government protested the installation, the Mite Ward Office issued an order to demolish it two weeks following installation, but the Korea Council filed a lawsuit and the order was put on hold. The installation period was extended by one year until the 28th.
