hankyoreh

May 25.

By Jung Nam-kyu, Tokyo correspondent

A Korean-Japanese photographer whose planned exhibition on comfort women in China was abruptly canceled by Nikon Salon is now receiving direct and indirect threats from Japanese right-wingers.

Ahn Se-hong, 40, had planned to stage an exhibition on comfort women left behind in China. The event was abruptly cancelled by camera maker Nikon, who had been sponsoring the event. Nikon purported to sponsor events such as the comfort women exhibition to encourage creative photography, but buckled under pressure from conservative groups to call off the event.

Discussion of Japan’s wartime atrocities is still taboo in that country; the comfort women issue remains unresolved as Japan still refuses to apologize to South Korean women forced into sexual slavery during World War II.

Now Ahn’s personal information has been posted on the internet and he is receiving harassing phone calls on a daily basis. Internet users believed to be affiliated with the Japanese far right began posting internet videos in late May calling for a protest of Ahn’s lecture on comfort woman photographs, which is to be held in the third conference room of the Yokkaichi civic center this weekend. Demonstrations are expected in front of the venue for a lecture he is scheduled to hold on June 10 in Yokkaichi, a city in Japan’s Mie prefecture.

A right-wing organization called the Citizens’ Association for Disallowing Preferential Treatment for Zainichi Koreans said on its web site that it was waging a continued telephone campaign to the city hall to stop the lecture and demanding an investigation of Ahn “using his rented residence in Nagoya as a base for other purposes.”

“We intend to do everything in our power to stop the lecture. If we cannot, we will hold a street protest in front of the venue,” the site said.

Ahn reported receiving one to two hang-up calls a day at his home and office. “I also sometimes receive letters with no return address telling me to ‘stop lying’ and ‘go back to Korea,’” he said.

Ahn also said someone had posted his home and office addresses and telephone numbers on personal information about acquaintances online.

The executive committee for Ahn’s exhibition plans to go ahead with the Yokkaichi lecture meeting as scheduled and attempt an installation of his works on June 25, the date of the originally scheduled exhibition in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district that was canceled by Nikon Salon.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]