The Party for Socialism and Liberation sends its unconditional solidarity to the “Statue Girl Keepers” and to the People’s Democracy Party of South Corea in their relentless struggle against Japanese imperialism and pro-Japanese right-wing forces in their country. We condemn every attack by right-wing forces on those keeping vigil at the statue, including the most recent one where they drove vehicles into the statue protectors, rushed them, made obscene speeches and erected symbols of Japanese colonialism such as the “Rising Sun” flag.
The Girl Statue, or the Statue of Peace, is an important public commemoration of the sexual terror inflicted on the Corean people during Japanese colonialism, during which time millions of women were kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. Japan has refused to compensate and pay reparations to the victims, their families and the Corean nation as a whole for not only the sexual slavery of women but the terror of Japanese colonialism overall.
The Girl Statue was only erected as a result of mass popular struggles in the streets. Today, it stands in front of the Japanese Embassy. There are similar statues across the world. To hide and erase their history of oppression, the Japanese government has relentlessly fought to remove the statues not only in South Corea but across the world, including the U.S. statue in San Francisco.
The Statue Girl Keepers have impressively kept a 24-hour a day vigil at the statue for over 1764 consecutive days. They remain undeterred in the face of the increased aggression by right-wing forces.
The PSL is dedicated to fighting for peace, democracy and self-determination on the Corean peninsula and we are proud to have supported the Statue Girl Keepers in the past and to continue to work with the PDP and the progressive forces throughout Corea.
Through international solidarity, we can free the Corean nation and its people from the grips of U.S. and Japanese imperialism!
