German // Japanese // Korean

Photo: Dong-Ha Choe

"The Statue of Peace must remain - against colonial oppression and the continuing attempts to silence us!"

Since September 2020, the Statue of Peace of the Korea Association Berlin (Korea Verband) has stood in Berlin's Moabit district as a reminder of the fate of the so-called comfort women during the Second World War. While the monument was erected in memory of the girls and women who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese military at the time, it has since become an international symbol against sexual violence as a weapon of war - going beyond its historical context.

Immediately after its installation, the Japanese government's attempt to remove the Statue of Peace made headlines. In October 2020, organised protests by civil society saved the statue from being disassembled. Now Ari is under threat again.

The mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner (CDU), visited Japan in mid May. He met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. According to a press release issued by the Senate Chancellery on 16 May, Wegner offers the “prospect of a solution for the controversial memorial to the comfort women in Berlin'' and is “committed to ensuring that there is a memorial against violence against women, but a one-sided representation must no longer take place". The Japanese Ambassador will be involved in future discussions about a new memorial. What? The statue is currently only 'tolerated' by the district authorities. The BVV's (district assembly) decision in favour of its permanent preservation is being ignored.

Meanwhile, we have also received news that the Mayor of Berlin-Mitte, Stefanie Remlinger (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), is planning to remove the Statue of Peace in September. She made the announcement during a meeting of the BVV (district assembly) Mitte committee for education and culture. We are disappointed and sad because Stefanie Remlinger has supported the statue in the past.

The Statue of Peace is not only a monument to past suffering, but also a memorial to the courage of survivors who continue to make the world a more just place - in the context of comfort women and beyond. The Statue of Peace is an important symbol for present and future generations. It reminds us that we must remain vigilant against all forms of sexual violence. 

Ari has enriched the neighbourhood and Berlin as a whole with her presence for almost four years now. Now she is again in imminent danger of being removed. We cannot allow this to happen! The Statue of Peace must remain permanently so that sexualised violence in the context of colonialism is no longer swept under the carpet in favour of the perpetrators!

Now the district office has issued a removal order that obliges us to dismantle the statue by October 31, 2024. This is in clear contradiction to our repeated offers to find a solution together. We are therefore collecting signatures for its preservation until this date.

Please support the preservation of the Statue of Peace "Ari" in Berlin-Moabit with your signature!

Explanation & Context

During the Asia-Pacific War from 1931 to 1945, Japan abducted an estimated 200,000 girls and young women from several countries. They were forced into sexual slavery on all fronts of the war. After the war, Japanese soldiers murdered the so-called "comfort women" or abandoned them on battlefields. Japan continues to cover up these crimes. 

The silence was broken in the early 1990s: Survivors went public. They demanded that the Japanese government admit its crimes, issue an apology by the state and pay just compensation. Human rights organisations, such as the United Nations, describe Japanese military slavery as a war crime and a crime against humanity, and urge Japan to meet these demands. Japan has officially acknowledged its guilt since 1993, but refuses to address the crime in public or in schools.

On 28 December 2015, the governments of South Korea and Japan signed the "comfort women" agreement. This was done without the consent or involvement of the survivors and does not reflect the demands of the international community. With the agreement, Japan and Korea declared the issue "finally and irrevocably" settled.
As the “Comfort Women” Task Force of the Korea Association (Korea Verband) we seek the affirmation of international human rights organisations and civil society that the just resolution of the “comfort women” issue is a shared responsibility of humanity. We work with the international community to immediately restore victims' human rights and eliminate violence against women, including sexual slavery in armed conflict and systematic rape worldwide.

The Statue of Peace is a monument - not only in memory of the "comfort women", but also for the many anti-colonial and ongoing struggles of FLINTA* (women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and agender people) against sexualised violence, femicide and their silencing worldwide. This is demonstrated time and time again when the Statue of Peace is chosen as a meeting place for BIPOCS (Black, Indigenous, People of Colours) in Berlin to give voice to anti-racist and post-migrant communities. The statue has long since become a decolonial monument in the neighbourhood. It is essential for the democratic politics of remembrance in the public space!

The "Ari" Statue of Peace has been standing in Berlin for four years, while diplomatic relations between Germany and Japan have not deteriorated. The Korean and Japanese communities also continue to work closely together in civil society to raise awareness of sexualised and colonial violence. Ari is loved and appreciated by neighbours, Berliners and people from all over the world. In addition, the Korea Association (Korea Verband) and the "comfort women" task force are carrying out important educational and awareness-raising work with the Statue of Peace and the "Museum of Comfort Women" (MuT) as a reference point: schoolchildren, students, academics and artists are addressing the issues of sexualised violence, colonialism and the culture of remembrance. The Korea Association (Korea Verband) works with various youth groups and school classes.

This multifaceted significance and important commitment must be recognised and the Statue of Peace preserved as a permanent monument.

Thank you for your support!