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ESJF's letter sent to the office of Berlin Mitte's district

10/11/2020

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​Peace Girl Statue in Berlin

On September 28, the Peace Girl statue was unveiled in Berlin.

A day after the unveiling, the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato expressed a strong interest in the removal of the statue.” On October 2, Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Motegi Toshimitsu requested German Foreign Minister Heiko Josef Maas to remove the Peace Girl statue. Then on October 7, Korea Verband, the Berlin-based civic group that spearheaded the statue installation in Berlin, received an order from the office of Berlin’s Mitte district to remove the statue by October 14. In response, the Korea Verband and its supporters filed for an injunction. On October 11, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his wife sent an open letter to Mayor Stephan von Dassel, denouncing the district office’s decision. Immediately after the removal order was released, the Korea Verband and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council) that funded this installation began the petitions against the removal order. 

In addition to these petitions, in Japan, more than 2,000 people and 120 organizations signed a statement written by the Japan Nationwide Action for Resolution of the Japanese Military’s “Comfort Women” (Japan Nationwide) within a week. The statement was sent to the office of Berlin's Mitte district. The Korean Council wrote letters to the Mitte district and the U.N. ESJF joined this effort by sending letters to the office of Mitte district on October 11 and a U.N. special rapporteur on October 13.

On October 13, around 300 activists and citizens held a demonstration in Berlin protesting against the statue removal order. Stephan von Dassel, mayor of the Mitte district, came to the demonstration and announced the district’s decision to pause the statue removal order. He added that the district authorities want to solve the issue through dialogue. For more information, click here.

On October 14, in Seoul (October 13th in California), Yong-Soo “Grandma” Lee, a victim of Japanese military sexual slavery, held a press conference with Na-Young Lee, Chair of the Board of the Korean Council, and Ki-Dae Yang, a South Korean National Assembly member, urging the Mitte district to withdraw the removal order. “Grandma” Lee then visited the German Embassy in Seoul to deliver her handwritten letter. I'll keep you posted on the development.

If you haven’t done so already, please consider continuing to sign the petitions, which more than 10,000 people worldwide have signed thus far. 
​
Korean Council's petition (written by Ah-Hyun Angela Lee): https://www.petitionen.com/petition_gegen_die_entfernung_der_friedensstaue_in_berlin
Korea Verband's petition: http://trostfrauen.de/offener-brief-friedensstatue/ 
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  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Social Justice Education
      • Advocacy >
        • International Community Outreach >
          • Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School >
            • Our First Advocacy
            • ESJF Student Art Competition
            • ESJF Statement: “After ‘Lack of Freedom of Expression?’” Shut Down to Suppress Freedom of Expression
            • Letter to Aichi Prefectural Triennale Promotion Office
          • Days for Girls International
        • Civil Society
    • Blog
    • Interviews and articles
  • Educator Resources
    • Sexual and Gender-based Violence >
      • Japanese military sexual slavery system >
        • Brief Historical Background
        • Lesson Plans and Worksheets >
          • ​In Their Own Words
          • Resistance & Collective activism
          • Denial of legal and historical responsibility
          • ​Remembering and honoring "comfort women"
          • Global plague
          • Contemporary movements towards justice
          • Worksheets
          • Puzzles
        • 2017 CA H-SS Framework >
          • Basic questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System
        • Map of "Comfort Women" Memorials in the United States
        • Survivors' Testimonies & Legacies >
          • Korea
          • China
          • Philippines
          • Indonesia
          • Japan
          • Netherlands
        • Primary Source Documents: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
          • Concerning the Recruitment of Women for Military Comfort Stations
          • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Report No. 49
          • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Bulletin No. 2
          • SEATIC Psychological Warfare Bulletin No. 182
          • G-3 Daily Dairy
          • C.B.I. Roundup
          • Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) No. 470
          • Research Report No. 120: Amenities in the Japanese Armed Forces
          • San Francisco Local History >
            • Resolutions >
              • Resolution 158-25A1
            • Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
          • Images
        • Secondary Source Documents and ESJF Statements >
          • Secondary Resource References
          • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, April 21, 2021
          • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, January 8, 2021
          • International Joint Statement, August 14, 2019
          • International Joint Statement, March 1, 2019
          • International Joint Statement, October 6, 2018
          • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
        • Reflections on Collective Activism in SF >
          • Reflection and Chronology: Eric Mar
          • Reflection: Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
          • Reflection: Sung Sohn
        • International "Comfort Women" Day >
          • 30th Anniversary of Kim Hak-Soon Halmoni's public testimony >
            • Kim Hak-Soon Halmoni
        • 2000 Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement
        • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
        • UNESCO and the "Voices of the 'Comfort Women'" >
          • Timeline
          • 2021 Youth Artwork Competition
          • 2021 Young Adult Online Campaign
        • Historic Lawsuits related to Japanese military sexual slavery before and during WWII >
          • Sung Sohn's Essay with commentaries and statement
        • YouTube >
          • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
          • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
          • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
          • Meet Estelita Dy: A Filipino "Comfort Woman" Survivor
          • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
          • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
        • Wednesday Demonstration
        • Peace Statue
      • Sexual and medical violence against Black Americans >
        • Lesson Plans >
          • Medical Experimentation on Enslaved Women
          • Nurse Rivers
      • Conflict-related SGBV in Tigray and Afghanistan
      • Reports and Papers on SGBV & Gender Justice
    • History of and Issues Surrounding Asian Diaspora in the United States >
      • ESJF >
        • 19th Century >
          • Lesson Plans
        • 20th Century >
          • Lesson Plans
        • Today >
          • Lesson Plans
      • TACT >
        • K-5
        • 6-8
        • 9-12
      • Facing History and Ourselves
      • Fred T. Korematsu Institute
      • San Francisco Asian Art Museum
      • Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
    • Medical Atrocities and Use of Banned Weapons >
      • United States >
        • Lesson Plans
      • Asia >
        • Lesson Plans
        • Video Footage for Classroom
        • Primary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
        • Secondary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
      • Europe >
        • Lesson Plans
    • Resistance and Collective Activism >
      • U.S. Slavery
      • Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
  • ESJF Publications
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Teacher Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
      • Student Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
    • Medical Atrocities and Use of Banned Weapons
  • ESJF Professional Development opportunities
  • Get Involved
    • Join Our Email List
    • Donate
    • Contact Us >
      • Workshop and Lecture Request