Suncheon City Cancels Installation of Statue at Korea-China-Japan Peace Park... What About Financial Loss?

It is a contract concluded through negotiation, and there is no loss as it is a basic production process.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Suncheon City fully canceled the plan to install statues of generals from the three countries in the 'Korea-China-Japan Peace Garden' on the 18th.

The Korea-China-Japan Peace Garden was planned to include a Peace Plaza, a historical experience learning center, and a history hall, and was also scheduled to install statues of generals from the three countries, a statue of an unknown soldier, and engraved stone slabs with peace messages.

Meanwhile, Suncheon City was in the process of collecting citizens' opinions regarding the installation of the generals' statues from Korea, China, and Japan in the Peace Plaza, considering public sentiment.

However, due to misunderstandings and controversies escalating following SNS (social networking services) posts and some media reports that confirmed the installation of the Japanese general's statue, the city decided to fully cancel the installation of the generals' statues from the three countries.

After Suncheon City decided to cancel the installation of the three generals' statues, controversy has spread regarding the contract details for the statue installation.

Suncheon City announced the Korea-China-Japan Peace Park statue production and installation project (contract by negotiation) on April 6. On May 19, final negotiations were held with the Suncheon City Culture and Arts Department, and on June 1, a contract was signed with Tara Space Co., Ltd. for the production and installation of the three generals' statues, the unknown soldier statue, and the engraved peace message stone slabs.

A Suncheon City official stated, "The Japanese general's statue was still in the pre-production stage, so even if Suncheon City cancels its production, there will be no problem."

It was explained that except for the already produced statues of General Yi Sun-sin and General Deng Zilong, the production of the other statues was still in the basic production process, including verification through historical evidence. Additionally, a public opinion survey was underway for the cancellation of the statue production, so there would be no financial loss due to the cancellation.

Accordingly, the Peace Plaza to be created by the city will only include monuments honoring the spirits of the common people and unknown warriors who died namelessly on this land centuries ago, as well as engraved stone slabs conveying messages of peace, excluding the generals' statues from the three countries.

Meanwhile, the Korea-China-Japan Peace Garden was initiated with the purpose of creating a space for peaceful coexistence on an 89,700 square meter site near Suncheon Waeseong Fortress, a historical site of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592?1598) and a place symbolizing overcoming national crises, left in Suncheon City.