(Newswire.net -- June 30, 2017) -- In Brookhaven, a quiet town on the outskirts of Atlanta, a sudden controversy has arisen since last week, due to the planned installation of a new "comfort woman" statue there on June 30th.
What is a "comfort woman"? For many Americans, this is a term with little significance. It denotes part of the negative legacy of World War II between Japan and South Korea, over which the two countries have taken issue for many years. Statues of comfort women are tools used by South Korea in its anti-Japanese efforts. Last year, the US mediated an agreement between President Park and Prime Minister Abe in which both finally signed the "Japan-South Korea Agreement," seeming to put an end to the issue of comfort women. However, the dispute has resurfaced. As a new president has taken office in South Korea, this historical agreement has been rescinded, and Korean Americans in the US have resumed the campaign to install statutes of comfort women.
In this situation, leaders of the Home Owners Association (HOA) near Brookhaven Park where the "comfort woman statue" will be installed, have expressed opposition to statue of the young girl, and also hinted at filling a lawsuit. Brad Sapir, board member of The Reserve at the Brookleigh Community Association, which manages 95 houses and condominiums adjacent to "Blackburn Park II" where statue of the girl will be put, was interviewed by a local journalist, "Reporter from the Newspaper," on the 19th. He stated that the residents were not consulted in the city's decision to construct the statue of the girl, and that they have asserted their opposition to planting such a seed of political controversy in the town. They have announced their plan to entreat the court for an order prohibiting the installation.
Upon reflection, one could have expected that the city would hardly welcome such a symbol of dispute being set in the park, and that the locals would understandably be opposed to it.
Also, there are rumors circling among locals that the organization promoting the "comfort woman" is extremely questionable. In Brookhaven, despite the legal prohibition of strip clubs, the city has allowed a strip club called "Pink Pony" to stay in business in return for a large payment of money. It is rumored among locals that there is a questionable connection between Pink Pony and the Atlanta Comfort Women Memorial Task Force. Brookhaven also needs to carefully consider whether North Korea is behind this South Korean organization.
Many Americans would especially be enraged this week simply at the mention of North Korea, as the death of Otto Warmbier, an American student, due to assault in North Korean is still fresh on their minds. Will the United States accept the activities of an organization related to or benefiting North Korea? It is likely that many people with no interest in such issues before have grown concerned watched the recent happenings involving the installation of the "comfort woman."
Why would this group go to such lengths to promote anti-Japanese sentiment, even to the point of organizing activities in the United States? Will this have some significance for the United States? Do ordinary, rational Korean-Americans living in the United States truly want these activities to continue? Japan is now the most important ally that the United States has.
There is another oddity here. Living in the United States often means that people came there because of dissatisfaction with their homeland. So why would they want to go this far to maintain the honor of their homeland? In all likelihood, this organization is not made up of honest Korean-Americans. Careful investigation is needed to lay bare this issue’s suspicious background.