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Nataly Jung-hwa Han, who heads the Korea Verband, speaks at a “feminist anti-colonial resistance rally” at the site of the Statue of Peace memorial to victims of Japan’s “comfort women” system of sexual slavery located in Mitte, Berlin. (Han Ju-yeon/The Hankyoreh)

“The Mitte borough of Berlin, members of the borough council, and even civic groups are receiving hundreds of emails that are presumed to be fake.”

Nataly Jung-hwa Han, chair of the civic group Korea Verband, told the Hankyoreh Saturday that the fate of the Statue of Peace memorial to “comfort women” victims that she helped install in Berlin’s Mitte borough is in jeopardy. This crisis has been brought on by a mass email campaign targeting Mitte officials by people who are assumed to be members of Japanese far-right groups.

The so-called comfort women were women from Korea and other countries who were forced to become sex slaves by the Japanese imperial army in World War II.

“These emails, which spoof Korean and German addresses, contain information that misrepresents the truth of the Statue of Peace,” Han said.

The emails claim that the victims of the comfort women system became prostitutes of their own free will, argue that Koreans haven’t dealt with their own history of raping locals during the Vietnam War, and suggest that Germans shouldn’t meddle in history of which they know little.

The email campaign has reportedly pushed some members of the borough council to mull withdrawing their support for the statue that commemorates victims. Council members have mentioned that they need to redirect their attention to the numerous quality-of-life issues facing the borough, including its homeless population and housing shortage.

As Han seeks to overcome this challenge, she has been meeting with many people and organizing rallies of support and solidarity with organizations for women and for minority groups in Berlin.

On March 1 — the anniversary of Korea’s 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule — over 70 people gathered at a “feminist anti-colonial resistance rally” put on by AG Trostfrauen, the comfort women action committee under Korea Verband, despite near-freezing temperatures. The event was attended not only by Korean American women’s groups such as MeToo Asians but also by women’s groups representing minorities from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

“The Statue of Peace is a symbol of opposition to sexual violence and colonial power. The Japanese government is attempting to conceal that history. I’ve been shocked and saddened to see the Japanese embassy to Germany slandering us and covering up the facts of history,” Han told the gathered protesters.

“The comfort woman statue was named the ‘Statue of Peace’ with the hope that there would be no repeat of wars such as the one being fought in Ukraine. But instead of listening to that voice, they’re trying to tear down the statue.”

The campaign for the memorial statue in Germany is moving beyond sexual violence in wartime to reckoning with colonial history. The origin of African cultural artifacts on display at the Humboldt Forum, a museum that opened last year, has come under scrutiny. As a result of such pressure, the German authorities have made it mandatory for schools to teach about its colonial history.

Han said, “Members of the African community truly understand the comfort women issue and share our pain. They seem to understand that pain because they’ve dealt with colonial rule and racial discrimination. I was really touched by how they understood us right away without us having to go into all the details.”

By Han Ju-yeon, special contributor in Berlin

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