Japan opposes Sydney ‘comfort women’ statue proposed by Korean, Chinese communities
As South Korean and Chinese communities in Sydney have teamed up to put up a statue in honor of the 200,000 women forced in sexual slavery during World War II, the Japanese government called the memorial to commemorate these “comfort women” misguided.
The Korean and Chinese communities in Australia hope to send a strong message to Japan with the erection of the statue. While no venue for the statue has been finalized yet, the city of Strathfield is an option. Sang Ok, Deputy Mayor for Strathfield said, “This is a very symbolic action not only to commemorate the sex slaves but for any woman victim in conflict.” He added, “The current Japanese Prime Minister is turning back the history of Japan. He’s going to distort the history.”
However, the Japanese Embassy in Australia countered these claims, saying the intention is misguided. A spokesperson from the embassy, Hiroshi Nawata said, “Japan hopes that ethnic and racial minority groups in countries all over the world can coexist in peace, and believes that it is not appropriate for people of various ethnic or racial backgrounds to bring in their differences of opinion on this issue.” He further stated that, “The government of Japan understands that the issues of history should not be politicized or be turned into a diplomatic issue. However, on the other hand, while the details of the statue or inscription are not yet clear, Japan believes that the movement is due to a lack of understanding of our position and efforts towards comfort women, and is not compatible with Japan’s position.”
Dismayed at the idea, people in Japan have sent numerous letters to Fairfax Media opposing the statue. One person wrote to the Australian outlet, admitting Japan’s knowledge of the use of “comfort women” but also justified the act, saying, “this practice was not something peculiar to Japan; other countries, including the United States, France, Germany, also had their own system to meet the need of their soldiers.” It closed by requesting the authorities to disallow any statue proposals in the future. A spokesman from the Korean Embassy refused to comment on the issue. “The embassy has nothing to comment on that matter, because the establishment of the statue is being carried out by the Korean community in Australia with its own capacity,” he noted.
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