Row over ‘girl statue’

Foreign countries’ missions should be shown due respect

An internal conflict is escalating over the comfort woman statue set up by a civic group in front of the Japanese Consulate General building in Busan.

The statue was established in memory of the Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese Army before and during World War II. It is the second such statue to be built in front of a Japanese diplomatic mission, after a similar one was built in front of the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent an official letter to the Busan city government earlier this month, urging the transfer of the statue. In the letter, the ministry encouraged the local government and civic groups to come up with a more appropriate location. The letter was sent ahead of the Feb. 17 meeting in Germany between Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

The ministry’s position over the statue was seen by the public as bowing to pressure from Japan, which recalled on Jan. 9 two of its top envoys — Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine and Yasuhiro Morimoto, consul general in Busan — over the second statue.

The absence of the Japanese ambassador is not desirable for Korea’s diplomacy, as Japan is one of our closest economic and cultural partners. Such a long absence of Japan’s top envoy is unprecedented and there is still no definite word from Tokyo about when it will direct its ambassador to resume his duties in Korea in the near future. Under the circumstances, it is understandable that the ministry chose to urge Busan to transfer the statue.

The ministry’s letter has inflamed public opinion and was heavily criticized by opposition parties.

In diplomacy, however, it is necessary to show respect toward foreign countries while pursuing national interests. Koreans should think about how they would feel if their overseas missions became the location of fixtures that upset them.

The statues were erected with honorable intentions, but they should not infringe upon the dignity of a foreign country’s diplomatic mission. It was unwise to erect a second statue in Busan when controversy over the one in front of the Japanese Embassy has not been resolved.

It is time to consider what needs to be done to mend Korea-Japan relations, which have worsened due to the two countries’ differences over the 2015 comfort women deal. Busan has refused to accommodate the ministry’s request, but it should start thinking about the need to find a less controversial location and convince the civic groups to move the statue.

In response to Seoul’s gesture to improve bilateral ties, Tokyo, for its part, should urgently return its ambassador to Seoul.