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Signs fill the spot where the Statue of Peace, an art installation memorializing victims of the Japanese military’s “comfort women” system of sexual slavery, once stood on the University of Kassel campus. (courtesy of Korea Verband)

A German university’s student council has condemned their school’s surreptitious removal of a statue memorializing victims of Japan’s “comfort women” system of sexual slavery, saying that the institution “appears to have caved to political pressure from a right-wing conservative government,” that is, Japan.

The University of Kassel’s student council uploaded a statement to their official Instagram account on Monday (local time) in which it wrote, “On March 9, the statue was removed from the university in the very early hours of the morning.”

“The Student Council is appalled that the university appears to have caved to political pressure from a right-wing conservative government,” the council wrote.

The council commented on the fact that “despite being the borrower of the statue, the Student Council was not informed that it would be removed on the day, nor has the council been told of the statue’s whereabouts.” The council wrote that as of Monday, there had been “no official notifications or orders from the university” to the student leadership.

The student council ended their statement by expressing disappointment that “the university does not seem to support the efforts of students committed to the Statue of Peace or the education that the statue can provide.”

The student council emphasized that the “Statue of Peace,” as the now-removed art installation that had been installed in front of the student union building is known, is “a memorial to the victims of sexual violence.”

“The statue symbolizes the struggle against oppression and stigmatization. It is a symbol of courage. In particular, the statue draws attention to war crimes and reminds us of the sex crimes committed by the Japanese military during World War II,” the statement read.

Located in central Germany, the University of Kassel suddenly removed the Statue of Peace that had been installed in July 2022, on Thursday. This removal came about three days after the South Korean government announced its one-sided concession regarding sensitive historical issues between South Korea and Japan, including a ruling on reparations for forced labor.

Local German civic group Korea Verband and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan claim that the Japanese Consulate General in Frankfurt has been pressuring the university to remove the statue.

According to the student council’s statement, the university demanded the removal of the statue earlier this year. The student council responded that it did not have the organizational or financial resources to remove it. The university then informed the council that if the council did not remove the statue, the university would take matters into its own hands.

The council stated that “the university claimed that the time limit for the installation, that was set over two occasions and on the university’s own terms, was the basis for demanding the removal,” even though “the loan agreement between the University of Kassel Student Council and Korea Verband stated that the installation was permanent. The university knew this from the time the contract was originally established.”

Korea Verband plans to hold a large demonstration on Wednesday afternoon to condemn the university’s sudden removal of the statue.

By Noh Ji-won, Berlin correspondent

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