Why Did the Mayor of Glendale, USA, Attach a 'Yellow Butterfly' to the 'Statue of Peace' in Seongbuk-gu?

2013 First Overseas City to Establish the Statue of Peace
Visits Korea to See the 'Korea-China Statue of Peace' Site

Seung-ro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu (left), and Dan Proftman, Mayor of Glendale (right), are visiting the Korean-Chinese Peace Girl Statue at Seongbukcheon Fountain Maru Plaza, delivering a message about the damages of war and the importance of world peace and human rights. (Photo by Seongbuk-gu Office)

Glendale, California, USA, is a city with a population of 200,000, not very large, but special to us. In 2013, it became the first overseas city to erect a ‘Statue of Peace,’ and after a persistent legal battle against a lawsuit filed by Japanese right-wing groups demanding the statue's removal, the city successfully protected the statue.

Glendale had already established and proclaimed ‘Japanese Military Comfort Women Day’ (July 30) in 2012 and commemorates this day annually. The following year, Glendale erected the statue in the city’s Central Park. This year marks the 10th anniversary of its establishment.

On the 17th, a delegation including Glendale Mayor Dan Brotman and Vice Mayor Rubik Gholanian, who empathize with and promote the values of world peace and human rights, visited Seoul at the invitation of Seongbuk District Office. That afternoon, Seongbuk District Mayor Lee Seung-ro and Mayor Brotman visited the ‘Korea-China Statue of Peace’ at the Seongbuk Fountain Square (near Hansung University Station on Subway Line 4) and attached yellow butterflies to the statue.

This symbolizes the hope that the surviving victims of the Japanese military comfort women will be freed from mental suffering and flutter their wings freely like ‘butterflies.’

Mayor Lee Seung-ro said, “I express my respect and gratitude to the citizens and officials of Glendale who have worked hard to raise awareness of Korea’s painful history by designating the world’s first ‘Comfort Women Day’ in 2012, erecting the first overseas ‘Statue of Peace’ in 2013, and holding cultural events every year on ‘Comfort Women Day’ to ensure that the noble lives of the comfort women are not distorted.”

Mayor Brotman responded, “Thank you for the warm welcome from Seongbuk-gu. Let us continue to spread the values of human rights and human dignity together between our two cities.”

Seung-ro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu (right), and Dan Proftman, Mayor of Glendale (left), are visiting the Korea-China Peace Statue of a Girl at the Seongbukcheon Fountain Square, writing messages about the damage caused by war and the importance of world peace and human rights. (Photo by Seongbuk-gu Office)

Since exchanging letters of intent for friendship in 2015, Seongbuk-gu and Glendale have maintained continuous exchanges. In particular, public and private sectors have actively continued activities to spread the values of peace and human rights through the Statue of Peace.

Behind this is Mayor Lee’s special interest and passion. After hearing about the difficulties such as interference from Japanese right-wing groups from the then Glendale mayor who visited Seongbuk-gu in 2019, Mayor Lee asked local elementary, middle, and high schools to educate students about our painful history and Glendale’s efforts. As a result, about 1,500 students from Seongbuk wrote thank-you letters to Glendale and its citizens, and students from Gyeseong High School and others carried out the ‘Overseas City Support Challenge for the Statue of Peace’ activities.

Moved by the students’ activities, Mayor Lee visited Glendale in October of the same year with 12 youth representatives and delivered letters to the mayor and city council members. Glendale and its council responded with letters of appreciation and a message pledging to ‘participate in education and activities for the protection of peace and human rights.’

Last year, Aldesis Kasakian, then mayor of Glendale, visited the Korea-China Statue of Peace in Seongbuk-gu and emphasized “everyone’s efforts toward universal human values.”