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Germans and Koreans protest a removal order for a comfort woman statue in Berlin’s Mitte borough on Oct. 13. (Yonhap News)

After the Mitte borough of Berlin ordered the removal of a comfort woman statue there, the borough mayor announced that the borough basically plans to rethink the removal.

Korea Verband, the Germany-based civic group behind the statue’s placement, held a demonstration in Berlin on Oct. 13 to defend the statue. About 300 protesters marched for 30 minutes from the comfort woman statue to the Mitte borough office. “Berlin, be brave! The statute needs to stay where it is,” protesters chanted in German.

Stephan von Dassel, mayor of the Mitte borough, held an unplanned meeting with the protesters in front of the borough office on Tuesday. After members of groups opposed to violence and advocating human rights and international solidarity explained why the statue should be allowed to stay, Dassel asked the organizers for a chance to speak his mind.

A demonstrator wheels a reproduction of the comfort woman statue in Berlin toward the Mitte borough office on Oct. 13. (Nam Eun-joo)

I’ve heard from those who want the comfort women statue to remain in place, and I’ve got a handle on the situation. Since Korea Verband filed a lawsuit [asking for an injunction against the removal order] yesterday, it’s bound to take a while for the removal to happen. In the meantime, I hope we can have a discussion about this,” Dassel said.

“Since Germany and Japan have diplomatic relations, we can’t simply ignore the protests of the Japanese government. This issue goes beyond the Mitte borough and is something that must be discussed with the federal government and with the Berlin-Brandenburg state government,” he added.

On Oct. 12, council members with Germany’s Social Democratic Party asked the borough to reconsider the statue removal. Then on Oct. 13, even before the protest was held, a majority of council members, including some from The Left and the Green Party (to which Dassel belongs), reportedly told Dassel that they think the plan should be reconsidered.

Germans and Korean residents march toward the Mitte borough office in Berlin to protest the removal order of a comfort woman statue on Oct. 13. (Nam Eun-joo)

Mitte borough approved the placement of the comfort woman statue on a city street this past July. But after the statue was unveiled on Sept. 28, the Japanese government asked for its removal, prompting the borough to issue an order to that effect on Oct. 7. Japan’s ostensible objection to the statue is an inscription stating that Japanese troops abducted women from all areas of the Asia and Pacific to be sex slaves during World War II.

On Sept. 13, the day before the deadline for the statue’s removal, Korea Verband asked a Berlin administrative court for an injunction against the removal order.

“The text of the inscription will probably be the main issue,” Nataly Jung-hwa Han, chair of Korea Verband, told the Hankyoreh. Han explained that the group is willing to consider a partial revision of the inscription.

By Nam Eun-joo, Berlin correspondent

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