(Adnkronos) – Risk of diplomatic crisis on the Tokyo-Auckland axis. The possible installation in the New Zealand capital of a monument in honor of the so-called “comfort women” – women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during World War II – risks opening a new diplomatic front between Japan and New Zealand. According to the Guardian, the alarm was raised by the Tokyo embassy, which warned that the initiative could “become a burden” for bilateral relations and fuel tensions between the Japanese and Korean communities in the country.
The sculpture, donated by a South Korean organization and destined for the Korean cultural garden in Auckland, depicts a young girl sitting next to an empty chair, symbolizing the victims of wartime sexual violence. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the “sensitivity” of the issue, but stressed that the final decision rests with the local communities and authorities, who are called to make a pronouncement on April 28.
According to some historical estimates, up to 200,000 women, mostly Korean, but also Chinese and from Southeast Asia – were forced to work in Japanese military brothels between 1932 and 1945.
Tokyo claims to have resolved the issue “definitively and irreversibly” with the 2015 agreement signed with South Korea, which provided for a compensation fund for survivors. However, the agreement was subsequently challenged by Seoul and many victims, who deemed it unsatisfactory and lacking a true admission of responsibility. In recent years, there have already been several diplomatic cases related to commemorative works of this kind, most notably the breakdown – in 2018 – of the sixty-year sister city relationship between Osaka and San Francisco.
