Japan asks NY figures not to erect comfort women monument

The Japanese consulate in New York has asked the city to "exercise caution" over Korea`s arguments about Japan`s sexual slavery of Korean women in World War II as the Big Apple is moving to set up a monument for the victims.

The consulate sent a letter to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in March, asking him to cautiously deal with Korea`s arguments about the so-called comfort women, according to a Korean-American group in the U.S. Friday.

The group also said 18 Japanese nationals sent similar letters to city council members and New York State legislators, urging them to scrap the monument plan.

Kim Yong-chan, head of the Korean-American Voters` Council in New York, said the Japanese government conveyed the message to the mayor through its consulate in the city in March. Kim said the mayor telephoned Peter Koo, a New York City Council member from Flushing who had been pursuing the monument project, to convey the message from Japan.

A Chinese-American politician and a member of the Democratic Party, Koo has been interested in the sexual slavery issue for a long time given the large population of ethnic Korean residents in his electoral district.

This month, 18 Japanese nationals each sent a letter to Koo and three other politicians, including Senator Tony Avella, urging them to vote against the monument. The Japanese claimed that the monument will mean disregard for historical facts and blame of the Japanese government and people.

The letters also said the sex slaves were mere "prostitutes" who were deceived by Japanese companies that were recruiting comfort women. Diplomats say Japanese right-wing groups might have been involved in the writing of the letters, as they used drastic expressions and had similar sentences and handwritten autographs to such groups.

witness@donga.com