How about this. No statue . Only in Ft Lee does a governing body respond to threats from a group of ungrateful people. Take the 40,000 open up a nail salon or massage parlor , maybe then they will be happy .
Hey Sockolich - grow a pair .

Now the administration is getting polling threats. How about just nixing the idea. Fort Lee has enough memorials as it is.

Wow, they invade fort lee, take over stores, churches, every food place , destroy the school system, cause pedestrian and motor vehicle accidents AND have the NERVE to make threats and demands ???? WOW - how much are these people paying to get WHATEVER they want ??? Only in fort lee would they destroy one of the last serene spots in town ( Abbott blvd) with a monument honoring dead prostitutes ... SOMEONE PLEASE SAY NO !! It really needs to stop !!

I do not understand why the Fort Lee administration felt the need to approve a statue here for the "comfort women" This is a Korean - Japan issue. Next are we to have statued for the Armenian-Turkey debacle, the mass killings occurring in many of the African countries, and on and on.
And the flat out threat was most inappropriate for an organization that is suppose to harmonize relations between different ethnic groups.

I understand that there was a problem. However it was between Japan and Korea. Horriblr things happened, war is horrible. Why is it suddenly that Bergen County communities are errecting memorials. When/where do we stop. Should we errect memorials for all atrocities on foreign soil, then why stop here. Armenia, Rwanda, Congo, and many more. I recognize that many may consider Holocaust memorials a precedent, but they are supported by non government funds and do include all victims of genocide.

Why do we need a monument to an event that had nothing to do with Fort Lee, or the United States for that matter, that will only inflame racial tensions in this community? It already has caused major problems in Pal Park. If it is built, there will be constant concerns about vandalism, and then police will be used to serve as security guards instead of doing police work.

On a separate note, how will we explain it to kids who ask about it? It's a monument to women who were sex slaves and/or prostitutes by the evil Japanese? Will there be monuments to other foreign atrocities popping up?

It is not appropriate to build this monument in Fort Lee.

Why are we memorializing women for providing sex to soldiers? So they can save face instead of acknowledging the fact that these women were abducted and repeatedly raped by the entire Korean service men. Women served in the armed forces and died to protect their countries. These are the women we should support How about in the upcoming elections Fort Lee voters vote to kick the Korean associations the heck out of OUR town along with their threats and pathetic egos and before it turns into another Palisades Park!

The advantage of anonymous blogging is that you can be offensive to anyone you choose with no ramifications, no responsibility and no accountability.

The Koreans are a vital element of the Fort Lee community, i.e. citizens who should command respect. If the Korean community has an issue with wording on a memorial that serves as an apology for heinous acts perpetrated on innocent war victims, they should at the very least be heard.

this is unheard of - all they had to do was 'ask nicely' - the admin was more than willing to work with them - goes to show: give them an arm and they take a leg but threatening the mayor? whoever heard of this? maybe someone should wake them up and let them know that Fort Lee is not a town in North Korea.

One word......MONEY..........

First of all, the comfort women are not prostitutes. How dare you, you ignorant trashes? Imagine the English forced American women to provide the "services" just because they had the force and lacked any sense of morality. These poor women still suffer from the unfortunate history and were never able to have any family of their own. Women soldiers do deserve commendation for their bravery and honor regardless of nationality or race, but compared to these victims of slavery, they enjoy the luxury of praise and self-esteem and just being able to fight. These women could not protect themselves. Their country couldn't protect them. Why is Fort Lee community commemorating this non-American history? Because the Korean Americans are Americans in every legal sense, and probably with more conscience and depth than you cluelessly ignorant people. Besides Americans love to act like the controller of the entire globe. Own up to the privilege if you have the least human decency. Also, you are saying they took over the jobs and other opportunities once unique to Americans? If Americans worked or studied as hard as they did, that wouldn't have happened in the first place. Do not blame your laziness and incompetency on the earnest and hardworking people. You sound like losers, and you clearly are. I am a law student and I am appalled at the level of immaturity and ignorance in all of you. I worry about the future of America because of people like you.

Its this liberal "feel good" and everyone gets a reward attitude that now is biting them in the ass. Govern wisely, watch our tax money and stay out of social,ethnic affairs .Stop trying to buy votes by trying to appease every special interest group.

First of all, I was here. I think this article twists the situation dramatically. The Korean Americans did not 'warn' the officials at all. The girl explained why she was there, what things should be corrected, and asked them 'nicely'.

It seems many people here upset why Fort Lee government is doing this. I think it is because many people do not know about this miserable history and misunderstand that the comfort women history just as a Japan-Korea issue. However, IT IS NOT TRUE. Hundreds of thousands of women are forced into sex slave from the Netherlands, Australia, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Indonesia. This cannot be told just as Korean-Japan or Asia issue. I learned about this after I learned about the Bergen County comfort women memorial.

The U.S. is the destination for sex-trafficking. I am sure thousands of our sons go to abroad for the U.S. military service. Our children should know about this. This memorial can educate our children with morality and compassion for human rights. I think having this memorial is honorable. It will help our children and our town more mature.

I think the group spoke up because they worried that the wordings and design can be misunderstood by many people just as an anti-japan issue. NO.

I think Fort Lee government agreed to have this because this is what Korean Americans in Fort Lee and Fort Lee residents are asking to them. I think the mayor understand what the group really is talking about and got the main point.

DON'T PUT UP THE STATUE...IT WAS A NICE GESTURE, you can't please everyone, and Ft. Lee was when I was there Italian and Jewish! Did we put up statues for us?

Since when is "sexual service" and "sexual slavery" honorable?
I agree Howard, the Korean population is present and needs to be heard, not condemned so viciously by some. I However, the idea of honoring these women as if they were virtuous for their "deeds" is odd. I give credit to the Mayor for using diplomacy and overlooking the outrageous attitude against him if conditions did not meet their expectations. Perhaps he held back for good reason.

The human/sex trafficking is a custom of Korea over 1000years. 
The business was owned and managed by Korean include the period of Japan's annexation of Korea 1910 - 1945
The genocide didn't happen during the period. The fact is doubled the population. But it happened during the Korean war. 

Even the prostitution business is 5% of Korean GDP. The government toughened the prostitution Regulation in 2008. 
Than, over 100.000 Korean prostitutes go all over the world. 
America have to stop them smuggle into the country. The business is well connected with Korean Mafia. Their power is too great, it is Rat race in Japan.

I saw the comfort women's documentary films. Unfortunately so called evidences wasn't WW2, It was Korean war. The comfort women service for UN and American solders. That is not accountable evidences. It is called forged evidences.

Before build the memorials, Please inspect all the evidences according to correct history. Not only by the testimonies of the victims whose story, place and time change each time they speak

Up to the end of WWII, Koreans were Japanese citizens. They were treated equally.
For example, all Korean Japanese (male adult) citizens also had　voting rights in national elections held in mainland Japan.　Whereas all Japanese citizens　living in the Korean Peninsula had　no voting rights in national elections. Brothels were established around Japanese garrisons to prevent the rape of Chinese women committed by Japanese soldiers, rampant since the beginning of the Sino-Japanese war. Brothels were legal at that time in Japan. Comfort women (CW), i.e. prostitutes, were recruited mainly from Japanese citizens, which meant from both 'Japanese' Japanese as well as Korean Japanese.There is not a single 'Japanese' Japanese ex-CW claiming coercive recruitment by the Japanese government.And there is not a single written document or valid third party testimony proving any coercive recruitment of the CW by the Japanese government. Testimony of the ex-Korean Japanese CW or any other woman herself based on her memory alone is usually deemed not reliable enough. Consider these facts, shared not only by the ‘far right’ as well as prime minister Abe but virtually all Japanese people, before making judgments of your own on this issue.

If they build statue like this, we have to have one that show how korean slained vetnamese in VW era and how many prostitutes they sent globally.

The text graved on the cw memorials is absolutely lie. The term 'comfort women' refers simply to prostitues with high-pay in wartime, never sex slaves, and distorted statistics are based on nothing. Anti-Japan propaganda activities based on the fictious "Korean comfort women" issue do nothing but deteriorate relations between the U.S. and Japan.
Please refer to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NrsofHGtT4

Why don’t Korean Americans dedicate a memorial to “Vietnamese Comfort Women” and/or “Lai Dai Han”, which were poor Vietnamese-Korean mixed race children abandoned by their fathers who were stationed in Vietnam during the War. South Korean military and Korean workers kidnapped young Vietnamese girls to sell them as “Comfort Women” or also known as “La Dai Han” or “Sex Slaves”. The Viet Cong registered a complaint during the war that South Koreans were abducting and raping large numbers of Vietnamese women. It was appallingly inhumane acts of violence.

First of all, there were 200,000 women forced into slavery by slavery I mean sex slaves. The part that you don't hear is that if one of these women became pregnant she was put to death. One of my very good friends is Mr. Paul Lee, a famous radio personality and well known activist for Korean rights Some people are very negative like the comment that this is between the Koreans and the Japanese as Mr. Berger suggests. Racism is not to be tolerated any more anywhere. Your comment Mr. Berger that is like saying the Holocaust shold be between the Jews and the Germans. Thank God we are all not like you we resist racisn on all levels.As for KACE, I was interviewed by their representatives when I ran for office. These folks are sincere and very intelligent.

The Korean Americans are a vibrant and integral part of the Fort Lee community and the surrounding towns. But i am opposed the the memorial in Fort Lee, this testament to the comfort women, if built should be done on county land with donated dollars. Let the representatives from the different factions of the Korean community come together raise funds and build this. If the towns want to honor the past history of one of the ethnic groups , thats great but I feel we should not be using municipal money for one specific group. We all pay to much in taxes and any funds should go to help the community as a whole. I have to donate to the local PTA so my children can have the supplies the need to learn and the education budget is stretched to the limit.

just out of curiosity I heard from Japanese women at the postpartum floor that I work at, that Japanese ppl are taught in school that the United States was the first one to attack Japan during WWII?? I am not trying to flag anyone but how is this even possible? was she just yanking my chain or did she just not pay attention during history class??