Police Guard "Comfort Women" Statue; South Korea's "Anti-Japan Immunity" Climate Persists

 【South Korea】 Police Guard "Comfort Women (Ianfu)" Statue; South Korea's "Anti-Japan Immunity" Climate Persists

1 : ◆ERINGI.ZLg @ Paris-Dakar Lead Regular φ ★ : 2012/08/12(Sun) 19:28:00.59 ID:???

Even after a "comfort women" statue was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, the South Korean government—far from removing it—has assigned police officers to guard it; meanwhile, the media and public remain unperturbed even when a truck rams into the embassy.

Recently, there has been a growing movement in South Korea to label the comfort women as "sex slaves."

Katsuhiro Kuroda, a special correspondent for the *Sankei Shimbun* based in Seoul, reports on the developments in South Korean society as the "comfort women issue" reignites.

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The area in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul—where the comfort women statue was installed last December—has recently taken on a bizarre atmosphere.

Two South Korean police security vehicles are permanently stationed to secure the main gate, yet the area is bustling (?) with activity, ranging from demonstrations and rallies by anti-Japan groups to Japanese tourists stopping to take a look.

There are even individuals who seize a moment of vulnerability to throw Molotov cocktails or ram the gate with a truck.

Ramming a truck into the main gate of a foreign embassy is the sort of thing one would expect in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Yet, the South Korean media and public do not view this as abnormal; they remain completely unperturbed. In particular, the South Korean media sensationalized an incident where a member of a Japanese right-wing group leaned a protest stake (often reported as a *maltuk*, or wooden post) bearing the message "Takeshima is Japan's inherent territory" against the "comfort woman" statue in front of the embassy. They circulated footage of this stunt online, labeling it a "*maltuk* terror attack" and aggressively stoking anti-Japanese sentiment.

The truck-ramming incident was the result of this, yet by international standards, that act itself would be considered an act of terrorism.

However, when it comes to anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea, international norms do not apply.

Thanks (?) to the "comfort woman" statue, the area in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul has become an even greater "landmark of anti-Japanese sentiment" than before.

Three police officers now stand guard behind the statue at all times to protect it.

There have even been instances where Japanese tourists attempting to photograph the statue were stopped by the police.

The statue is an unauthorized, illegal installation; it was erected without official permission by an anti-Japanese group advocating for the "comfort women" cause—the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (known as *Jeongdaehyeop*)—to commemorate the 1,000th protest demonstration held at the embassy.

The Japanese Embassy has demanded its removal by the South Korean government, citing it as an insult and desecration of a foreign diplomatic mission and a violation of international law.

Continued in post >>2 and onwards. Source: NEWS Post Seven

http://n.m.livedoor.com/f/c/6849178

TITLE: [South Korea] Police Guard Comfort Woman Statue; South Korea's "Anti-Japan Means No Guilt" Climate Persists

DATE: 2012/08/14 13:22

URL: http://anago.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/wildplus/1344767280/-100