Statue Resembling Japanese PM Shinzo Abe Bowing To ‘Comfort Woman’ Sparks Anger
Image via Drop of Light / Shutterstock.com
New statues in South Korea symbolizing victims of sexual slavery during Japan’s Second World War have sparked anger after officials in Tokyo perceived that one of the statues resembles Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
The statues are displayed at a garden in Pyeongchang, and it depicts a “comfort woman” who had to work in Japan’s wartime brothels and a man bowing in front of her, who appears to look like Abe.
If reports on the statue are accurate, “There would be a decisive impact on Japan-Korea relations,” Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said. “I think such a thing is unforgivable under international courtesy,” Suga added.
The statues belong to Kim Chang-ryul, owner of the botanic garden. Kim said that the statues were his idea, but he explained that he never intended for the male figure to look like Abe.
The kneeling statue was meant to show any figure willing to apologize for the hurt caused during those dark times, Kim explained. “If that person is Abe, then that would be good,” he told Reuters.
The statues, titled Eternal Atonement, were built to address the issue of “comfort women” from Korea who were forced to become sex slaves during World War II and the debate on whether they were “adequately compensated.”
This has longed remained a thorn in Japan-South Korea ties, though Japan said that the matter has been “irreversibly resolved” in a 2015 agreement between Abe and former South Korean president Park Geun-hye. Abe apologized for the incident and pledged a fund to support these women.
South Korean president Moon Jae-in, however, claimed that the agreement was flawed and voided it.
A statue in South Korea appearing to depict Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kneeling and bowing to a 'comfort woman' has angered the Japanese government https://t.co/5FwTOqF9DV pic.twitter.com/mv2nEgYXQ0
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 28, 2020
[via Reuters, opening image via Drop of Light / Shutterstock.com]
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