PYEONGCHANG/TOKYO (SOUTH KOREA/JAPAN) – A statue depicting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kneeling and bowing to a seated “comfort woman” in South Korea has infuriated Tokyo, which reacted angrily on Tuesday. “Comfort woman” is a euphemism for women forced into prostitution in Japan’s wartime brothels.
If the reports of the statue on display were true, it would be an “unforgivable” breach of international protocol, said Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga.
“If the reports are accurate, then there would be a decisive impact on Japan-Korea relations,” Suga said in a media briefing in Tokyo.
The statue is located in a botanical garden and its head said the work of art could represent anyone who is in a position to apologise for the historic wrong and not the Japanese prime minister in particular.
“If that person is Abe, then that would be good,” Kim Chang-ryul said.
The portal of the garden located in rural Pyeongchang county names the statue “Eternal Atonement.”
South Korea’s foreign ministry said international protocal had to be considered, but the act was done by a private individual.
Before during World War Two, Korean women were forced to work in Japan’s brothels and the question of whether victims were adequately compensated still remains a thorny issue.
However, Japan considers the issue as “finally and irreversibly resolved” citing a 2015 agreement inked between Abe and then South Korean President Park Geun-hye under which the Japanese prime minister tendered an apology and promised to support victims.
But South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s government has declared the deal flawed.
Similar statues of girls have been erected in front of the Japanese embassy in the country to pay homage to those victims.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field