SEOUL -- The statue of a man in the image of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is found to have been erected in a private botanical garden in Pyeongchang, northeastern South Korea, depicting him kneeling and bowing to a statue of a girl symbolizing the so-called comfort women.
The statue set up in Korea Botanic Garden is titled "eternal atonement." The garden announced that it would hold an unveiling ceremony in August, saying that the statue is an artwork "to impress upon people the fact that Prime Minister Abe is refusing to apologize for Japan's colonial rule and the comfort women issue and to ask him for remorse."
The ceremony was eventually canceled due to criticisms posted online in South Korea, saying, "It's childish," or "The statue only incites conflict." However, the statue itself is open to the public.
The botanical garden's manager Kim Chang Ryeol told The Yomiuri Shimbun that the statue was made with not only Abe in mind. "I set it up for a personal reason hoping someone will apologize, and it has no political intent."
The South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman had a negative response to the statue and said at a press conference Tuesday, "There is generally international courtesy to foreign leaders."
-- Japan expresses discomfort
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday expressed a strong sense of discomfort.
"We have yet to confirm it. But it would be unacceptable as per international courtesy," Suga said at a news conference. "If it is true, it would decisively impact Japan-South Korea relations."
As for the comfort women issue, Suga said, "We will continue to urge [South Korea] to steadily implement the Japan-South Korea agreement that confirmed the final and irreversible resolution."
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