Statues in China Honor Sex Slavery Victims

A victim of Japanese sex slavery (center) on Saturday wipes the face of a statue set up in Shanghai to commemorate women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. /Yonhap

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Activists have set up two statues in Shanghai commemorating women forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.

The statues represent a Korean and a Chinese woman and are the first such monuments in China. They were set up on the campus of Shanghai Normal University on Saturday by the International Solidarity Commission.

Similar statues already exist in Korea and areas with large Korean communities in Australia, Canada and the U.S. One sits in front of the Japanese Embassy in downtown Seoul.

Two survivors, Lee Yong-soo (88) from Korea and Chen Liancun (90) from China, attended the unveiling in heavy rain. Lee wiped the rain off the faces of the statues, saying, "Now they won't feel lonely". Chen said, "I'm sick at heart whenever I think of that time".

A permanent exhibition commemorating the atrocity also opened at the university, where historical records, photos and other objects are displayed.

Tokyo has expressed concern over the statue through diplomatic channels, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper Sunday.