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Police stand along a police line that surrounds the 1,527th Wednesday Demonstration on Wednesday, Jan. 19. (Shin So-young/The Hankyoreh)

On Wednesday, a weekly demonstration seeking to resolve the issue of the “comfort women” system was once again unable to take place at its customary location in front of the former Japanese Embassy in central Seoul, having been pushed 50 meters down the road due to obstruction by far-right groups.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended that the police take proactive measures to protect the long-running Wednesday Demonstrations from counterprotesters, but the demonstrators were once again pushed out by far-right and conservative groups that had occupied the site in advance.

This week’s demonstration began at noon amid a flurry of thick snowflakes, with about 30 people taking part. But members of far-right and conservative groups who had occupied the area around the Statue of Peace continued to insult the victims of imperial Japan’s system of military sexual slavery and make remarks misrepresenting its history.

Lee Na-young, head of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, welcomed the NHRCK’s recommendation.

“We urge the Jongno Police Station to fully resolve the human rights violations that are occurring at the Wednesday Demonstration site, in line with the NHRCK’s recommendation, and to fundamentally block any gatherings aimed at obstructing the Wednesday Demonstrations,” said Lee, who was among the demonstrators present that day.

A dusting of snow covers the Statue of Peace on Wednesday. (Shin So-young/The Hankyoreh)

The NHRCK recommended Monday that police actively encourage groups opposing the Wednesday Demonstrations to choose a different time and location for their rallies, referring to the demonstrations as a “movement with few precedents in world history.” It also called for proactive investigative and prohibitory efforts at the scene of the rallies to prevent acts of defamation and disparagement against participants in the Wednesday Demonstrations — including survivors of sexual slavery themselves.

On Wednesday, police used loudspeakers to urge participants to refrain from defamatory and disparaging statements, while making efforts to prevent physical confrontations.

Responding to the NHRCK’s recommendations, an official with the Seoul Jongno Police Station explained, “We’re broadcasting warnings to ask [participants] to refrain from slanderous statements and confrontations between the Wednesday Demonstrations and the opposing groups, and we plan to take active measures to guarantee peaceful assemblies.”

But the official also said the police “have no legal authority to forcibly prevent” the coinciding of the two sides’ demonstration locations and times or the continued disparaging and defamatory remarks by members of far-right and conservative groups.

NHRCK members conducted an on-the-ground investigation of the demonstration site Wednesday.

On Jan. 5, the Korean Council and other groups supporting survivors of military sexual slavery submitted a petition to the NHRCK asking it to investigate human rights infringements at the demonstrations, while calling for the police to “join the investigation rather than simply sitting by while these actions occur.”

By Park Ji-young, staff reporter

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