President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, lambasted a far-right civic group for demanding the removal of statues symbolizing victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery and insulting them. He called it an 'absurd' case of defamation of the deceased in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Police have launched an investigation into the group's leader.
On January 6, 2026, President Lee Jae Myung posted on X criticizing a far-right civic group that has demanded the removal of statues depicting a girl symbolizing victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery. The group held multiple protest rallies in front of such statues nationwide, calling for their dismantling and disparaging the victims. "This is an absurd case of defamation of the deceased," Lee wrote, sharing a news article about the police investigation into the group's head.
The Yangsan Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province opened the probe on Tuesday, booking the activist—whose identity is withheld—on charges of defamation, violation of the assembly and demonstration law, and property damage. The investigation began after a complaint filed in September last year. The activist sparked controversy with a nationwide campaign to dismantle the "comfort women" statues. He posted on social media a photo of a school with such a statue, accompanied by insulting remarks like "Are you providing career guidance on prostitution by erecting a statue of a prostitute on school grounds?" and "It's a symbol of fraud." He also shared a photo of himself holding a banner reading "Stop the comfort women fraud!" in front of Japan's Asahi Shimbun building. Three others who participated in his activities are also under investigation.
Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in front-line brothels for Japanese soldiers during the war. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945. The incident highlights ongoing debates over the comfort women issue.
