By Kim Bo-eun
Jongno-gu Office plans to take control of the controversial comfort woman statue in front of the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul. This will block any arbitrary attempts to remove the statue.
The local municipality submitted a revision to related regulations to the district council last year, and the council will vote on the revision in April. The revision will likely be passed, according to Jongno-gu Office.
The statue symbolizing women who were forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese military during World War II has been a subject of heated controversy.
The Japanese government has been pressing for removal of the statue as part of the deal reached on comfort women between the two countries in December 2015.
However, no entity had control over the statue.
The comfort woman statue was placed there by a civic group representing victims in 2011, after the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family sought cooperation from Jongno-gu Office, which received approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The district office did not have control over the statue, as “structures” were not included in regulations on public facilities.
But a revision to the regulation declares structures set up on public grounds as “public structures” to be managed by the district office.
If the central government wishes to relocate or remove the statue, it needs to notify the party which erected it, and a committee affiliated with the district office will make the decision.
Jongno-gu Office’s moves are likely to affect Busan, where another statue stands near the Japanese consulate.
The foreign ministry recently asked the district office there to relocate the statue after it caused diplomatic friction, prompting Japan to recall its ambassador to Korea in January.