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| Comfort Women Monuments |
Click here for interesting article about the statues & their artists.
From Wikipedia: "Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II.
Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 to as high as 360,000 to 410,000. Many of the women were from occupied countries, including Korea, China, and the Philippines...
The last surviving victims have become public figures in Korea, where they are referred to as halmoni, the affectionate term for 'grandmother...'
Every Wednesday, living comfort women, women’s organizations, socio-civic groups, religious groups, and a number of individuals participate in the 'Wednesday Demonstrations' in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul... In December 2011, a statue of a young woman was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy to honor the comfort women, on the 1,000th of the weekly 'Wednesday Demonstrations.' The Japanese government has repeatedly asked the South Korean government to have the statue taken down, but it has not been.
The cause has long been supported beyond the victim nations, and associations like Amnesty International are campaigning in countries where governments have yet to support the cause, like in Australia & or New Zealand..." /// From Amnesty International: "One by one survivors started to speak out in the early 1990's. Former 'comfort
women' and their supporters have built a global movement to seek justice and call on the
Japanese government to apologise for the human rights violations it was guilty of. They spoke with gentleness and dignity
and grace -- and the butterfly became the symbol of that global movement."
Right click any image to enlarge.
|  1992 - Nanum Jip / House of Sharing, Gwanju, Gyeonggi-do (South Korea). About an hour south of Seoul. "Not only is it a place of refuge for Korean women formerly interned as sex slaves by the Japanese during World War II, but it is a museum offering little known insights into this dark time in history." /// "The museum houses various pieces of art donated by noted Korean artists." Left image shows "memorials to women who used to live at the House of Sharing but have since passed away."
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|  1995 - Oka Masaharu Memorial Peace Museum, 9-4 Nishizakacho, Nagasaki (Japan). Founded by private citizens to bring Japanese aggression to light. Located close to the central train station and just next to the memorial for the "26 Saints of Japan." (Information from Kazuyo Yamani 21Nov2015: "..an emphasis is put on Japan's aggression of other countries and there are exhibits on [comfort] women.")
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|  April 22, 2003 - Historical Marker, Liwasang Bonifacio (Plaza Lawton), Manila (Philippines). Inscription: "This historical marker is being offered in memory of the Filipina victims of Japanese military sexual slavery during the Second World War. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, approximately 1,000 women became victims of military sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army. All over the country, in these 'comfort stations' or sites were the institutional and organized rape and abuse of women by the Japanese military were committed. Through this historical marker, a memorialization of the history of the women victims will be achieved in the hope that this tragedy will never happen again and that henceforth, no generation of Filipino victims will never be memorialized as victims of military sexual slavery."
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|  November 2003 - Center for Peace Museum, 99-1 Kyunji-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul (South Korea). "Set up in the wake of the late-1990’s apology movement for the massacre of civilians committed by the Korean forces during the Vietnam War. The 'seed' was sown by two former 'comfort women,' sex slaves for the defunct Japanese Imperial Military, who made donations in the hope that there would be no more victims of war. With the spirit of 'pain, memory, solidarity,' the Center aims to remember all the wars in the world & unite with war-victimized people.
The Center opened a 100-square-meter site named 'space peace' near Insadong, the well-known tourist spot in Seoul. In order to nurture peace-loving minds, photo & painting exhibitions have been held under such themes as Japanese aggression, the Iraq War, & South Korea’s diehard military culture stemming from the Korean War & the resulting division of the Korean land.
South Korea has a war museum but not a peace museum. We do not intend to construct a grand building, but to develop a peaceful culture to overcome the 'war/military culture' that permeates South Korean society. We intend to continue transmitting this message from our corner of Seoul." Affiliated with International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP). 
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|  Summer 2005 - Women’s Active Museum of War and Peace (WAM), 2-3-18 Nishiwaseda,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (Japan). "A place where the reality of war crimes is recorded & kept for posterity. We come here to remember historical facts about 'comfort women' & to listen to their stories. And we raise our voices & say, 'Never Again, anywhere in the world...' WAM was conceived by the late Matsui Yayori [1934-2002], a prominent journalist & activist for women’s human rights & dignity. Her vision was to preserve records accumulated for the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery which was held in Tokyo in December 2000. The Tribunal sought to bring justice to survivors & to end the cycle of impunity for wartime sexual violence."
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July 30, 2007 - US House of Representatives passes House Resolution 121, asking the Japanese government to redress the situation and to teach the actual historical facts.
|  Summer 2008 - Blog by Chang-Jin Lee: "I am a New York City based visual artist, conducting research in Asia about the issue of sexual violence against women during wartime, and in particular the case of 'Comfort Women.' As part of the process of my research, I have traveled to Asia (Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China, Indonesia, Australia, & the Philippines) to meet these women survivors & a former Japanese soldier in order to know more about their particular histories. Subsequently, I have created... 'COMFORT WOMEN WANTED' [which] involves ad-like billboards, phone booth posters, prints, audio & multichannel video installations. It has been presented at the Incheon Women Artists' Biennale (Korea), Hauser & Wirth Gallery (New York), The Kunstmuseum Bonn ( Germany), The Comfort Women Museum (Taiwan), the State Museum of Gulag (Russia), 1a Space Gallery (Hong Kong), Spaces Gallery (Cleveland), the Boston Center for the Arts (Boston), George Mason University Gallery (Washington, DC), Wood Street Galleries (Pittsburgh), and as Public Art in New York City, in collaboration with The NYC Department of Transportation’s Urban Art Program in 2013." /// Click here for 46-minute YouTube video of a talk by on Chang-Jin Lee on April 5, 2013..
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|  October 23, 2010 - Comfort Women Monument, Palisades Park, County of Bergen, New Jersey (USA). #1 monument in USA. Near New York City. Inscription: "In memory of the more than 200,000 women and girls who were abducted by the armed forces of the Government of Imperial Japan 1930's - 1945 known as 'Comfort Women.' They endured human rights violations that no peoples should leave unrecognized. Let us never forget the horrors of crimes against humanity."
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| December 14, 2011 - Peace Monument, Seoul (South Korea). Faces the Japanese Embassy. Inscription: "This peace monument reflects people's genuine desire to learn from history and remember the past on the occasion of the 1,000th weekly protest against Japan's atrocities by comfort woman forced into sexual slavery." "Marks the 1,000th demonstration of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan which has staged rallies in front of the Japanese embassy on Wednesday of every week.
The council demands that the Japanese government apologise for & pay direct compensation to the victims, euphemistically called 'comfort women.' Japan has acknowledged that its wartime military used sex slaves but refuses to directly compensate the victims individually, arguing that the issue was settled by a 1965 normalisation treaty with South Korea." /// Click here for video of a demonstration at the monument in October 2014. Video includes Yeonghwan Kim (video maker & former
associate director of Grassroots House Peace Museum?), Gerard Lössbroek (Pax Christi in the Netherlands) Roy Tamashiro (Webster University, Missouri), Hyeyeon Kim (Conference Secretariat), Hope Elizabeth May (Central Michigan University) & Liska Blodgett (Peace Museum Vienna) -- all having just attended the 8th INMP conference in No Gun Ri.
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July 2012 - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a strong advocate of the cause, denounced the use of the euphemism 'comfort women' for what should be referred to as 'enforced sex slaves.'
| June 18, 2012 - Comfort Women Monument, Veterans Memorial, Eisenhower Park, Westbury, Nassau County, New York (USA). #2 monument in USA. Near New York City. "The red granite monument symbolizes the hardship & blood of the comfort women, the Korean American Public Affairs Committee announced. Nassau County, which manages the memorial park, will also be in charge of maintaining the monument. This is the second memorial of its kind in the U.S. [sic] following one in Palisades Park, a borough with a large Korean American population in New Jersey, in October 2010."
New York lawmakers joined Korean-American and other groups to unveil a second monument to the women forced into sexual slavery before and during World War II at Veterans Memorial in Nassau County on Long Island on Friday.
The victims are euphemistically referred to as the “ianfu,” or “comfort women,” in Japan.
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| 2013 - #3 monument in USA. "Flanking the original monument set up in Eisenhower Park in 2012, the second memorial, consisting of two stone tablets, bear the comfort women resolutions signed by the state assembly & senate in 2012. The tablets were unveiled by New York Sen. Tony Avella, Assemblyman Chuck Lavine, Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel & leaders of Korean-American & human rights groups."
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January 30, 2013 - "In Seoul (South Korea) last week activists unveiled plans to put up the statues - representing 'comfort women' forced into Japanese military brothels during the war - in a number of Asian countries starting with Singapore.
They said they had held talks with Singapore authorities and added that a delegation would be sent to the city-state to finalise the plans.
The South Korean group was behind the bronze statue of a young girl with a butterfly settled on her shoulder that was assembled in 2011 opposite the Japanese embassy in Seoul.
Other statues were also planned in China, Malaysia and Indonesia, the group had said... /// Singapore said on Wednesday it has rejected plans by South Korean activists to put up a statue in the city-state commemorating women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II.
The culture ministry denied claims by the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery that there had been talks about plans to put up such a statue.
'This is not accurate,' the ministry told AFP in a statement.
'There are no ongoing meetings or discussions between the Singapore government and the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery on this issue. Nor will we allow such a statue to be erected in Singapore.'" 
|  July 30, 2013 - Peace Monument, Glendale Central Park, Glendale, California (USA). #4 monument in USA. Near Los Angeles, California. "Over the objections of dozens of Japanese-Americans who crowded City Hall chambers, the Glendale City Council voted Tuesday [July 9, 2013] to install a controversial memorial at Glendale Central Park honoring 'comfort women' -- a euphemism for the mostly Korean women & girls forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II...The memorial will be unveiled July 30, and a surviving comfort woman will attend the ceremony. It will be a replica of the famous 'peace monument' that Korean civic leaders erected across the street from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in 2001 [sic], near where surviving comfort women have held a protest every Wednesday for more than 20 years..."
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January 16, 2014 - Glendale, California (USA). "About a dozen Japanese politicians visited Glendale Thursday calling for the city to remove a monument that honors women taken from Korea, China, the Philippines & other countries to serve as sex slaves by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. The visit marked the third delegation of Japanese politicians who traveled to Glendale since the 1,100-pound statue was erected in Central Park in July... 'Are we angry? Yes,' said Setsuko Sakuraba, a city assemblywoman from Joetsu City, 'But I am more sad than angry because this statue is not supporting world peace.'
Yoshiko Matsuura, a city assemblywoman from the Suginami Ward in Tokyo, said the delegation is concerned about the statue’s effect on Japan’s reputation, adding that the mature topics etched on the monument’s plaque are not appropriate for a public park where children visit.
The delegation held a large sign in front of the statue that read: 'Children need heart-warming monuments' as they posed for pictures by the statue before a crowd of Japanese & Korean media."
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April 1, 2014 - "An Australia-based group, the United Chinese Korean Alliance Against Japanese Warcrimes, is campaigning for a statue to honour the so-called comfort women...
Sydney's Korean & Chinese communities have been lobbying for the memorial, arguing there's no statue in Australia acknowleding the suffering of women subjected to sexual abuse during conflict... Campaigners for a statue in [the Sydney suburb of Strathfield] honouring up to 200,000 women forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the WWII say they've been bombarded with correspondence from Japan opposing the plan.
Most ['comfort women'] came from Korea and China, with a smaller number from countries including the Netherlands and Australia."
 |  May 30, 2014 - Comfort Women Memorial Peace Garden, Fairfax County Government Center, Fairfax, Virginia (USA). #5 monument in USA. Near Washington, DC. "Showcases the emerging voice and influence of Korean Americans in Northern Virginia, who want the story told.
But the memorial is sparking protests from the Japanese Embassy & activists in Japan, a reaction reminiscent of the embassy’s response to legislation requiring that the Sea of Japan also be identified as the East Sea in Virginia public school textbooks." /// Inscription: "In honor of the women and girls whose basic rights and dignities were taken
from them as victims of human taficking during WWII. Over 200,000 women and girls from Korea, China, Taiway, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Netherlands
and East Timor were enforced into sexual slavery and euphemistically called 'Comfort Women' by Imperial Japanese forces during WWII.
We honor their pain and suffering and mourn the loss of their fundmental human rights. May these 'Comfort Women' find eternal peace
and justice for the crimes committed against them. May the memories of these women and girls serve as a reminder of the importance of
protecting the rights of women and an affirmation of basic human rights. Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, Inc."
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| August 4, 2014 - Comfort Women Monument, Liberty Plaza, Union City, New Jersey (USA). #6 monument in USA. Near New York City. "Two 'comfort women' survivors flew in from Korea to join Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, Board of Commissioners & Korean American Civic Empowerment for a dedication ceremony featuring the unveiling of a "Comfort Women" monument in Liberty Plaza." Inscription: "In memory of thousands of women and girls from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Netherlands, and Indonesia, who were forced into sexual slavery by the armed forces of Imperial Japan before and during World War II."
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 August 14, 2014 - "A Taipei-based group said Thursday that it wants to set up a museum in memory of the Taiwanese women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II -- known euphemistically as comfort women.
'We hope more and more Taiwanese people will support our call for such a museum,' said Kang Shu-hua, executive director of the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, which organized an annual rally that day outside the Taipei Office of Japan's Interchange Association, the de facto embassy in the absence of bilateral diplomatic relations.
To set up the museum, the foundation is raising funds from the public, she told the media on the sidelines of the rally. 'Relevant government agencies are helping us to find a location for the museum,' she added..."
| January 4, 2015 - "My name is WenHsin Chang, and I work for Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF). TWRF is dedicated to the international 'comfort women' movement to demand a formal apology & reparations from Japanese government, assist & serve comfort women directly by social workers, hosting exhibitions & panels, filming documentaries & videos to be used in awareness-raising campaigns & conferences since 1992.
So far we're developing a Museum on Comfort Women, Women, Rights & Human Rights. The preparatory office of the AMA museum (comfort women) maintains thousands of objects regarding comfort women & the history of World War II. It will be opened in the end of 2015.
Please refer to the below links,
Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation &
Taiwan's Virtual Museum on sexual slavery by Japanese Military.
N.B.:. The English version of virtual museum on sexual slavery were attacked by hackers. We're trying to fix problems."
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August 18, 2014 - Pope Francis meets with seven former comfort women in South Korea.
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| August 22, 2014 - Comfort Women Memorial, Fullerton, Orange County, California (USA). #8 monument in USA? Fulerton "will set up a memorial to women who were forced into sexual slavery by the imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It will be the 11th of its kind in the U.S. [sic] as part of a Korean-led campaign to shame Japan into taking responsibility for the atrocity.
The City Council of Fullerton on Wednesday passed a bill on placing a statue of a young woman symbolizing a former sex slave in front of the city museum. Similar statues have been erected in Glendale, California and Southfield, Michigan. The 3-2 vote was passed after listening to opinions of Korean-American and Japanese-American residents, who make up small but significant minorities.
The same day, the City Council voted to support the U.S. House of Representatives' resolution calling on Japan to make reparations for the atrocity. The statue in Fullerton was initiated by the local government and a women's group.
Back in 2010, when the first memorial honoring what the Japanese euphemistically refer to as 'comfort women' was dedicated in Palisades Park, New Jersey, the issue was chiefly a concern of Korean-American communities. But the issue has now sparked more diverse interest."
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August 30, 2014 - UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination calls for Japan to, as the Committee's deputy head Anastasia Crickley puts it, "conclude investigations into the violations of the rights of ‘comfort women’ by the military and to bring to justice those responsible and to pursue a comprehensive and lasting resolution to these issues."
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Presentation of an 1897 US National Council of Women flag at the weekly Wednesday protest of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul (South Korea) by Prof. Hope Elizabeth May, Central Michigan University (after conference of International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP). Flag says Pro Concordia Labor (For Peace I Work).
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| 2015 - Comfort Woman Statue, Gwangju (South Korea). "Set up in front of Gwangju City Hall.
It was announced on June 21 [2017] that five districts in Gwangju will set up [their own] comfort women statues [see August 14-15, 2017, below], not the seated version across from the Japanese embassy in Seoul, by Aug. 14 [2017]... Aug. 14 was designated International Comfort Women Day because it is the day that Kim Hak-sun became the first former comfort woman to publicly testify about her experiences in 1991."
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October 28, 2015 - Comfort Women Memorial, in a "small park," Seoul (South Korea). From Yonhap News: "A monument to comfort women, a statue of a little Korean girl, now sits together with a statue of a Chinese girl. On October 28, nine girls & three boys wearing black & white traditional clothes pulled on a rope to reveal the statues of a Korean girl & Chinese girl who were sacrificed as comfort women. The Korean girl statue made by the sculptor couple Kim Woon-sung (50) & Kim Seo-kyung (49) is the same as the one [dedicated December 14, 2011] that sits in front of the building that used to house the Japanese embassy [in Seoul]. The Chinese girl statue was made by filmmaker Leo Shi-yong (54) & art professor Pan Yi-qun (54). She is wearing a Chinese dress & has braided hair. Under the Korean girl statue, there is a shadow, but there are four footprints beneath the Chinese girl statue. Officials explain that the footprints are replicas of the footprints of actual Chinese women that were sacrificed as comfort women. Leo Shi-yong first suggested making the two statues. 'Two years ago when I first saw the monument made by Kim Woon-sung, I was very moved. But at the same time I felt very lonely. Since Korea & China both suffered at the hands of the Japanese, I thought that a Chinese girl statue might keep the other statue company.'
In addition, an empty chair has been placed next to the two statues, so that statues of girls that were sacrificed from other countries can also have a place to sit. The artists that made the statues plan to make another pair of statues at a university in Shanghai next year, and are looking into making another in San Francisco
." /// Click here for New York Times article.
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November 2, 2015 - "The leaders of South Korea & Japan agree to speed up deliberations to reach a breakthrough on the comfort women issue."
December 28-30, 2015 - On Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida & South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se meet in Seoul (South Korea) & jointly announce (1) Japan's admission of the old military's involvement in the issue, (2) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's apology, (3) and Japan's agreement to pay 1 billion yen ($8.3m, £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund 46 surviving victims (i.e. $180,000 per victim). Removal of the 2011 statue of protest in Seoul is not mentioned as a condition for the financial aid.
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On Wednesday, "a Japanese government source" says Japan's fund is contingent on removal of the statue of protest. Prime Minister Abe has set the condition, the source said, amid looming opposition by some in Japan to a plan to release the public funds to help the women with the statue of a girl remaining in place.
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Also on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Yun told a group of South Korean reporters that Seoul will urge Tokyo to refrain from behaviors “that could cause misunderstanding,” in an apparent reference to reports on Japan’s intention to link the fund with the fate of the statue.
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In a rally on Wednesday, the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Sexual Slavery by Japan, a civic group helping former comfort women, refuses calls to get rid of the statue & confirms their policy of trying to create more comfort women statues in & outside South Korea.
 | August 2016 - Comfort Women Monument, Croydon Park, near Sydney, New South Wales (Australia). "1.5-metre statue imported from South Korea. Smbolises hardships endured by tens of thousands of Korean women, who were forced into servitude [during World War II].
Unveiled by former comfort woman Won-Ok Gil, 89, who flew in for the ceremony.
Ms Gil was forced to work in a 'comfort station' at 13 years of age & was and raped hundreds of times by Japanese soldiers.
At the Sydney unveiling, she sat besides the peace monument and became too emotional to speak."
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 | December 28-30, 2016 - Comfort Women Monument, Busan (South Korea). On a sidewalk near the Japanese Consulate. Smbolises hardships endured by tens of thousands of Korean women, who were forced into servitude by the Japanese military during World War II. "The bronze, life-size statue, of a girl in traditional Korean dress sitting in a chair, [was] raised without permission on [December 28], removed by police & then reinstated [on December 30] after many protests on the order of Busan's mayor, "a year after the two countries said they had put that emotional issue behind them... Japan’s vice minister for foreign affairs, told the South Korean ambassador in Japan that the statue 'went against the spirit of the Japan-South Korea agreement concluded at the end of last year and is extremely regrettable,' adding that it would have an 'unfavorable impact on the relationship between Japan & South Korea, as well as disturb the security of the consulate...'
Dozens of identical statues have been put up in South Korea since 2011, when the first one, placed near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, caused a diplomatic uproar. But the statue in Busan was only the second to be installed near a Japanese diplomatic mission." /// Image shows protestors at the statue surrounded by police.
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 |  March 8, 2017 - Friedensstatue / Comfort Women Monument, Nepal Himalaya Pavillon, Wiesent, Regensburg District, Bavaria (Germany). First comfort women statue in Europe. "Present at the [dedication] ceremony were some 100 local German officials as well as representatives from South Korea’s Suwon city government & civic groups from South Korea... Yonhap [News Agency] said there are currently over 40 comfort women statues erected in & outside of South Korea, including in the USA, Canada, Australia & China.
Suwon city had initially agreed with Freiburg, another German city, last July to set up a comfort woman statue there, but the plan was scuttled apparently due to 'strong obstruction & pressure' by Japan, according to Yonhap." Information courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek.
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| August 14-15, 2017 - Various Locations (South Korea). "Eleven statues dedicated to the victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery known as 'comfort women' will be erected throughout the country over the next two days in commemoration of the fifth International Memorial Day for Victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery.
The day was established in 2013 to remember Kim Hak-soon, the first Korean victim to make a public testimony regarding Japan’s forced sexual slavery at frontline brothels during World War II, on Aug. 14, 1991.
The first bronze statue of a young girl, called the Peace Monument, was installed in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in 2011, which has become an international symbol of the comfort women’s cause.
There are 40 statues dedicated to comfort women throughout the country and seven more outside Korea. With the addition of the 11, there will be a total of 58 statues dedicated to the victims globally.
The Gwangju city government, which installed a bronze statue of a young girl in front of its city hall in 2015 [see 2015 above], will be installing five more statues today in five districts across the metropolitan area.
The statue to be installed in Nam District consists of two figures: Lee Ok-sun, a survivor, standing tall beside a seated figure of her former self, a young woman.
'By putting together how Lee looks now & how she looked when she was 16, the statue shows that the Japanese colonial period is something that cannot be forgotten as an event in the past,' said Lee Lee-nam, the artist who created the statue.
Another bronze statue to be installed in Buk District, crafted by artist Choi Jae-deok, shows a girl standing up & about to walk forward. A bird sits on her outstretched right hand, which the artist said symbolizes freedom.
'We wanted a bronze statue that expresses the free & strong will of a young girl,' said Jeong Dal-seong, director of the Peace Monument committee at the Buk District Office.
In addition to the five districts in Gwangju, six other cities & districts around the country will install statues to remember the victims. They include Dobong District and Geumcheon District in Seoul, Yongin in Gyeonggi, Hongseong County in South Chungcheong, Andong in North Gyeongsang and Iksan in North Jeolla.
The statue in Yongin was funded by donations from residents and will be installed in the square outside City Hall. The Yongin government said it would also create an exhibition space inside the building dedicated to victims."
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| Future - "Vietnam Pieta." Will honor civilian victims of the Vietnam War. "GOYANG, Gyeonggi (South Korea), Jan. 19, 2016 - The creators of the famous Peace Monument in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul are now planning a new project to memorialize victims of the Vietnam War (1960-75). Kim Seo-kyung & Kim Eun-sung, who have been married for 26 years, believe that as much as the Korean people want the Japanese government to atone for its wartime atrocities, so, too, the Korean government needs to step up and acknowledge its past wrongdoings... The artists have made seven different sculptures memorializing former Korean sex slaves, euphemistically known as “comfort women,” of which 25 castings are located in Korea & two in the United States. They also have plans to install three more in the coming months..."
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Future - Comfort Women Memorial, Lincoln Park?, San Francisco, California (USA). #9 monument in USA? From Japan Times 3Nov2015: "San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in September [2015] to set up a 'comfort women' memorial, becoming the first major US city to plan such a tribute to the women & girls forced to provide sex for soldiers of the Imperial Japanese military.
While the decision by the city’s was unanimous, it has baffled Japanese residents & Japanese-Americans. They ask why the West Coast city needs a monument addressing an issue that is a point of controversy between Japan & its neighbors...
Eric Mar, the board member who introduced the motion to set up the memorial, said he hopes the San Francisco monument’s design will symbolize a range of issues together, including encouraging education about the trafficking of women, and will thereby solidify support from residents...
Comfort women monuments have been erected in at least five locations in the United States [sic], all in relatively small communities...
Mar, of Chinese descent, said one factor that motivated him was the Imperial Japanese Army’s occupation of China.
The city supervisor said the plan has already drawn $140,000 in funds for construction & potential sites have been identified.
They include Lincoln Park, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean & hosts a Holocaust Memorial.
Steps away from that memorial stands a monument [shown in image] celebrating the centennial of the 1860 port entry of the Japanese warship Kanrin Maru on the occasion of the signing of the Treaty of Amity & Commerce with the United States." FUTURE US_CA_N
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August 16, 2014 #7 monument in USA. - Comfort Women Peace Statue, Korean American Cultural Center, Southfield, Michigan (USA). Near Detroit, Michigan. Honors the comfort women. "Planning for the Southfield statue started in 2011. Fundraising & finding a location took two & a half years. Initially, the statue was to be installed in a public library in the city before protests arose from Denso Corporation, a Japanese auto parts manufacturer in the area, & the Japanese Consulate General, which said it would encourage division in the area."
