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Korea – Japan ‘Cyber war’

January 9, 2014

White House’s ‘We the People’ website petition is the battleground

to protect or remove the commemorative statue in Glendale

‘Comfort Women’ Statue In Glendale, CA (yonhap)

By Nam Hyun-woo

More Korean nationals across the world are joining an online petition to protect a bronze statue set up in Glendale, California, to commemorate the victims of Japan’s military sexual slavery during World War II, a journalist association head said Thursday.

The Overseas Korean Media Association, a Seoul-based Korean journalist group, said it has sent an official call to its members, working for 130 Korean language media outlets in 32 countries, to leave their signatures on the petition to prevent the removal of the statue.

The message read: “A petition calling for the maintenance of the statute has been posted on the White House’s We the People website, but signatures supporting the petition are outnumbered.”

The media driven move came after a petition calling for the removal of the so-called “peace statue” received more than 110,000 signatures on the website. The petition was reportedly posted by a hawkish pro-Japanese U.S. citizen, named Tony Marano.

Since the U.S. government is obliged to review and issue a response if an online petition on the website gets more than 100,000 signatures, Koreans are concerned that the government may ask for the removal of the monument. An online rivalry between Korean and Japanese Internet users began as those on either side of the issue are competing to see who can gather the most signatures.

The statue, which commemorates Korean sex slaves who were forced to serve Japanese soldiers during World War II, was erected on July 30. It is a replica of one that stands in front of the Japanese Embassy in central Seoul and was placed at the Glendale Public Library, after its City Council approved of the project.

Onbao.com, an ethnic Korean media outlet based in China posted an article Wednesday encouraging participation from Korean nationals around the world, saying the number of signatures that advocates the preservation of the statue lags behind the number of those who want it taken down.

The Korean American Forum of California, a California-based civic group which spearheaded the placement of the statue, said, “The Glendale city government announced that it will not remove the statue. Instead of the White House petition, sending letters to Glendale City Council members would be more effective.”