Local authorities in the German capital of Berlin have ordered the removal of a statue of a girl symbolizing those referred to as wartime comfort women, as permission to install the statue there has now expired.
A pro-South Korea civic group erected the statue in 2020 on a publicly owned plot in a residential area of the Mitte district in central Berlin. The Japanese Embassy in Berlin has since demanded that the statue be removed.
On Monday, the district office ordered the group to remove the statue within four weeks, following the expiration of permission on Saturday.
Late last month, the district office indicated it may order the statue’s removal, as the group had refused to agree to a proposal to find an alternative location on a private site.
The group has insisted that it hopes the statue can remain in its current location. It suggested it may seek legal protection in court.