Auckland WWII ‘Comfort Women’ Statue Plans Scrapped | Japan & Sexual Slavery

Plans to erect a statue in Auckland, New Zealand, commemorating the “comfort women” who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II have been rejected by local officials following objections from the Japanese embassy. The statue, offered by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, was intended for a public garden in Auckland but will no longer be installed.

The Japanese embassy had warned that the installation of the bronze statue, depicting a girl seated next to an empty chair, “could have a significant impact” on diplomatic relations between Japan and New Zealand, according to reporting from the BBC and 1News. The statue is modeled after the original Statue of Peace in Seoul, South Korea, designed by Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Eun-sung.

Auckland Council staff recommended rejecting the proposal after a public consultation revealed a “lack of community support,” according to a statement provided to the BBC by Kim O’Neill, head of Land and Property Advisory. The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board subsequently voted 4-2 to deny the landowner approval application from the Korean Garden Trust.

Historical Context of ‘Comfort Women’

The term “comfort women” refers to the tens of thousands of women, primarily Korean, but also including Chinese, Filipino, Indonesian and Taiwanese women, who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces during and before World War II. Historians estimate the number of women affected ranged between 20,000 and 200,000, subjected to sexual assault between 10 and 30 times a day in frontline makeshift brothels.

The issue remains a sensitive and contentious point between Japan and its neighboring countries. The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, the group that offered the statue to New Zealand, advocates against military sexual slavery and seeks to raise awareness of the plight of the “comfort women.”

Public Consultation and Local Opposition

The Auckland Council received 672 submissions during a three-week consultation period in January. The results showed 57% opposition to the statue and 43% support. Approximately 36% of submissions came from the Japanese community and 34% from the South Korean community. Supporters of the statue argued it would “honour the courage and resilience of survivors, promote peace and remembrance and support human rights education.”

Local board chairperson Trish Deans and deputy chairperson Scott MacArthur, along with Terence Harpur and Garth Ellingham, voted to deny the proposal. The decision reflects concerns about potential division within New Zealand’s diverse society and between the Japanese and Korean communities, as expressed by Japan’s Ambassador to New Zealand, Makoto Osawa, in a letter to the Auckland Council. Osawa wrote he was “concerned that it will cause division and conflict within New Zealand’s wonderful multi-ethnic and multicultural society and between Japanese and Korean communities peacefully co-existing in New Zealand.”

This decision follows similar controversies in other countries, including Germany, where a memorial to “comfort women” faced pressure for removal from the Japanese government. A Berlin court temporarily halted the demolition of a similar statue in 2021, citing the need to weigh all arguments in the complex dispute.