“Forced Laborer Statue Model Is Not Japanese” Couple Sculptors of Girl Statue Win First Trial

Sculptor Couple Wins Damages Lawsuit Against Lee Woo-yeon, Co-Author of the Controversial "Anti-Japanese Tribalism"

'Forced Labor Korean Worker Statue' Installed at Tanba Mangan Mine in Japan / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Sculptor couple Kim Unseong and Kim Seogyeong, who created the Statue of Peace, won a partial victory in the first trial of a civil lawsuit against the representative of an internet media outlet who spread the claim that “the model for the Forced Laborer Statue is Japanese.”

On the 22nd, Hwang Sunkyo, presiding judge of Civil Division 22 at the Seoul Western District Court, announced that in the damages claim lawsuit filed by the Kims against two defendants including the internet media representative, the court ruled that the defendants must pay the plaintiffs 7 million won and 5 million won respectively.

Judge Hwang stated the reason for the ruling, saying, “It appears that the plaintiffs’ honor as the creators of the statue was significantly damaged and there were insulting expressions directed at the plaintiffs,” and “the defendants’ illegal acts were repetitive and continuous, making it necessary to prevent such behavior.”

Regarding the defendants’ claim that they were unaware that the Kims were the creators of the Forced Laborer Statue, Judge Hwang rejected it, stating, “It seems easy to find out through simple information searches such as internet searches that the plaintiffs are the creators of the statue.”

Judge Hwang also pointed out regarding the claim that the model for the Forced Laborer Statue was Japanese, “Apart from the thin physique, the bare upper body, and the short clothing revealing the thighs, which are seen in the photos included in textbooks, there are hardly any other similarities with the Forced Laborer Statue in this case.”

He continued, “Such similarities are shapes that anyone who wants to express ‘workers who were forcibly mobilized and lived a harsh and difficult life in the mines’ can easily imagine,” and “It is difficult to recognize that there was a substantial reason to believe the claim that the model was Japanese was true, and it is hard to see it as solely for the public interest.”

The Kims filed a lawsuit demanding 60 million won each in damages against the defendants for defamation, alleging that they spread false information by posting on internet sites or social networking services (SNS) or speaking at rally venues that the Forced Laborer Statue was made using a Japanese model.

In 2016, the Kims created the Forced Laborer Statue to commemorate victims of forced labor under Japanese rule and installed it near a mine shaft in Kyoto, Japan. Subsequently, statues were installed sequentially across the country in places such as Seoul and Busan.

Previously, in September last year, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in a similar damages claim lawsuit filed by the Kims against Lee Woo-yeon, a research fellow at the Nakseongdae Institute of Economic Research and co-author of “Anti-Japan Tribalism,” ordering the defendant to pay the plaintiffs 5 million won each.