Installation of 'Statue of Peace' on Sardegna Island, Italy
Mayor Stantino: "It concerns universal women's human rights"
On the 22nd (local time), a 'Statue of Peace' was installed on the Italian island of Sardegna. This is the second installation on public land in Europe, following Berlin, Germany. Since the first overseas statue was erected in front of the Glendale Public Library in California, USA, in 2013, this marks the 14th installation.
The unveiling ceremony held on the coast of Stintino, Sardegna, was attended by a large number of local politicians including Mayor Rita Vallebella of Stintino, women's groups, and representatives of civic organizations.
The statue in Stintino was erected on public land by the seaside, just 200 meters from the city hall. The city explained that it was built in a location frequented by tourists to raise awareness of the statue among many people.
The Statue of Peace is a sculpture that commemorates the historical fact of the Japanese military's sexual slavery and expresses the hope that wartime sexual violence will end.
Next to the statue, a long inscription titled "Testimony of Memory" is installed on a separate information board. The inscription details how, during World War II, the Japanese military forcibly took numerous girls and women from the Asia-Pacific region to serve as military sex slaves. It also strongly expresses regret over the Japanese government's denial of the existence of comfort women and its attempts to remove the statue.
Statue of Peace installed on the coast of Stintino, Sardinia Island, Italy [Image source: Provided by the Justice and Memory Foundation]
The inscription is displayed on separate information boards written not only in Korean but also in Italian and English, and can be accessed in more languages via QR codes.
The Justice and Memory Solidarity (Jeonguiyeondae), which led the installation of the statue, proposed the erection of the statue to the city of Stintino last December. Mayor Vallebella welcomed this, saying, "We welcome the erection of the Statue of Peace on our territory," and described it as "a firm commitment to stigmatize all forms of violence against humanity and women."
However, the installation process was not smooth due to opposition from the Japanese side.
The local newspaper L'Unione Sarda reported that Satoshi Suzuki, the Japanese Ambassador to Italy, visited Stintino on the 20th, two days before the unveiling ceremony, to request a postponement of the event, sparking controversy between Korea and Japan. The media reported that Ambassador Suzuki claimed Japan had apologized for past crimes and was in the process of paying compensation, and protested to the city that the inscription on the statue was factually incorrect.
Mayor Vallebella refused Ambassador Suzuki's request to postpone the ceremony but stated that fact-checking was necessary to verify the accuracy of the inscription, according to the media.
Japan's Kyodo News also reported that Mayor Vallebella acknowledged the bias in the inscription. She reportedly said that "the inscription reflects the unilateral claims of the Korean civic group that led the statue's installation" and expressed an intention to replace it with content reflecting the positions of both Korea and Japan.
However, Lee Nayoung, director of Justice and Memory Solidarity (Jeonguiyeondae), which led the statue installation, stated, "After meeting with Mayor Vallebella, she never mentioned changing the inscription and said she has no plans to alter it." She added that during the unveiling ceremony, Mayor Vallebella emphasized that the statue is not about Japan but concerns universal women's human rights.
She further said, "Mayor Vallebella may have mentioned the possibility of changing the inscription to the Japanese side to avoid conflict with Japan, but protecting the statue is more important going forward."
The Korean Embassy in Italy stated that it has not yet received any related communication from the city of Stintino and is monitoring the situation closely.
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