On September 10th, We delivered plaques of 2,607 names from Korea and international communities who sponsored the ‘Statue of Peace’ project in Germany

LEE Na-Young, the Chair of the Board of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (hereafter Korean Council), and IM Ji-Yeoung, the lead of the domestic solidarity team, visited the Statue of Peace at Kassel University, Germany on 10th September as a follow-up to the last visit on July. The purpose of their visit is to attend the plaques delivery ceremony with the names of 2,607 Korean and foreign citizens who have sponsored ‘the Statue of Peace’ activity in Germany, which was a result of two-month fundraising in Korea (July-August).

  The Korea Council and the Korea Verband, Korean-German organization in Berlin, delivered the Plaques symbolizing the solidarity of citizens and organizations in Korea and abroad in front of the Statue of Peace at Kassel University at 6 pm (local time in Germany) on September 10 (Sat).  They were handed out to the student council president Tobias. The names of 2,607 individuals and organizations were engraved on these plaques in English and Korean.

  About 50 people, including the artist couple KIM Seo-Kyung and KIM Woon-Seong, as well as Germans and local Koreans from Kassel Hangul School, attended the plaque delivery ceremony. Koreans from the Netherlands also were together. It kicked off with a dance performance by the Kassel Korean School students.

   It was just before the start of the event, members of the Kassel Hangul School and those who participated in the event gathered to watch the documentary movie ‘Kim Bok-dong’ and after it, LEE Na-Young gave a short lecture on the history of the movement for solving the issue of the Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

  The Statue of Peace was built with the hearts and wishes of Kassel University students on July 9th but has recently been exposed under strong pressure from the Japanese government demanding removal of it. The president of Kassel University immediately requested the removal of the Statue at the end of September, but it was postponed to the next semester at the moment because of rebutting from the student council.

Earlier, on September 9th, LEE Na-Young and IM Ji-Yeoung attended the special opening event for the exhibition ‘Empowerment’ held at the Kunstmuseum in Wolfsburg, Germany. At this museum, the Statue of Peace, created by the artist couple KIM Seo-Kyung and KIM Woon-Sung, will be on display until January 8th next year along with 125 art works of other artists of various feminism perspectives. The Statue of Peace was transported from Dresden for the exhibition, and it was donated by the Korean Council. The Statue was kept in the warehouse of the Dresden Folklore Museum after it was once exhibited there as a vivid example of empowerment and the protagonist of feminism movements.

On September 10th, we took a train from Wolfsburg to Kassel with a mobile Statue of Peace and visited the Documenta exhibition center in Kassel. The artist couple KIM Seo-Kyung and KIM Woon-Sung set up the Statue inside the exhibition hall and held a conversation with visitors and artists. HAN Jeong-Hwa, the representative of the Korea Verband from Berlin attended as interpreter.

In the bookshelf nearby the Statue of Peace, the explanation of it was also displayed, and the animation of “Comfort Women” was looped for screening for visitors. It was attractive enough to get the attention from visitors, and it seems the issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan was being raised during the documenta in Kassel.

  On September 11th, they visited the Rhein-Main Korean Church in Frankfurt. There are four Statues of Peace in Germany totally now and one of them is sitting by the Korean Church in the city. On March 8th, 2020, the same day of the International Women’s Day, the Statue of Peace was established in the garden of the church overcoming the obstacles by Japan. At that time, the Korean Council supported the full cost of the production of it, but unfortunately, we could not attend the unveiling ceremony due to the aftermath of COVID-19.

  LEE Na-Young and IM Ji-Yeong visited the church together with the artist couple KIM Woon-Seong and KIM Seo-Kyung to meet the Statue of Peace in the garden and hold a meeting with members of the Korean communities in the region. We shared the history and meaning of the movement for the issue of the Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, updated news about survivors in Korea, and the current situation in Korea and so on. There was a Q&A time after it. We would like to express our deep gratitude and strong solidarity to the Rhine Mine Korean Church community which has been active for a long time for establishing and protecting the Statue of Peace in the sense of solidarity for victims of sexualized violence.