Statue of Peace

Statue of Peace in front of the Embassy of of Japan in the Republic of Korea

The Statue of Peace (Korean: 평화의 소녀상), also known as Comfort Woman Statue, is a symbol of the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial military during World War II. The Statue of Peace was erected in the sense of calling for apology and remembrance. The Statue of Peace is sometimes called as Pyeonghwabi in Korean pronunciation.

Statue of Peace in front of the Embassy of Japan in Korea

Wednesday demonstration started in 1992 and after 20 years, December 14, 2011, The idea for the Statue of Peace was first proposed by Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. At the first time Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan proposed to erect a memorial stone in front of the Embassy of Japan in Korea for commemorating the pain of Comfort women as the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial military. This proposal was realized at the 1000th meeting of Wednesday demonstration, November 14, 2011, in front of the Embassy of Japan in Korea. Yeongjong Kim who was head of Jongno-gu has provided design ideas and works of art in the form of a girl instead of a memorial stone. The Statue of Peace was built by the couple Unseong Kim and Seogyeong Kim. The statue is about 130 centimetres (51 in) tall and is dressed in a skirt and blouse, with the appearance of a girl with small hands and short hair sitting and staring at the Embassy of Japan.

To be more specific, there is a chair next to the girl that is empty. The empty chair symbolizes many of the aspects such as the girls and women who passed away having suffered from sexual slavery and also space left for people in the current and future society who can sit next to the girl and be of hope together. Additionally, there is a shadow on the floor which alludes to the heart-breaking time that the comfort women underwent. It shows the long amount of time for a young girl having grown as adults who still have kept the harsh memories of the past and their faith in true justice deep down in their hearts. That is why, next to the shadow, there is a butterfly that symbolizes true meaning of independence that has hope for a day in which the victims can overcome such sorrows. In all, the statue in general stares in the direction of the Japanese embassy, representing the comfort women who passed away having waited for true apology from Japan. Such statue has its historical meaning in relations to comfort women just like the House of Sharing.[1]

Japan has repeatedly demanded that the statue be removed, but Seoul and especially the victims have rejected such demands consistantly as the Japanese government has never officially admitted its direct involvement of the military with regards to comfort women issue. [2]

Other statues inspired by the Statue of Peace

The issue of comfort women and the Statue of Peace has inspired other such statues to be built in Seoul and in cities around the world with sizable Korean populations.[2][3]

Statue of Peace in Bergen County, New Jersey

Bergen County government has carved an article entitled "World War II Memorial, and hundreds of thousands of women and girls in South Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Indonesia, from forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese imperialists military".

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.womenandwar.net/contents/general/general.nx?page_str_menu=0502
  2. 1 2 CHOE SANG-HUN (28 October 2015). "Statues Placed in South Korea Honor 'Comfort Women' Enslaved for Japan's Troops". New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Park Jae-hyuk (27 July 2016). "Japanese fight to block 'comfort woman' statue in Sydney". koreatimes.co.kr. Korea Times. Retrieved 22 September 2016.

External links

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