Conservative Group 'Occupying Statue of Girl', Waiting Daily to Report Rally... Until Next Month 12

On the 13th, the statue of the Peaceful Girl in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, amid ongoing controversies regarding the accounting of donations to the Solidarity for Justice and Memory. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Starting from the 23rd, a conservative group will occupy the area in front of the Statue of Peace, which has been used as the site for the Wednesday demonstrations for over 30 years. This group will hold the space for more than half a month, from that day until the 12th of next month.

According to the police on the 13th, the conservative group Liberty Solidarity filed a rally report to occupy the site in front of the Statue of Peace in Susong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, which has been used for the Wednesday demonstrations, from the 23rd of this month to the 12th of next month. According to the current Assembly and Demonstration Act, when holding an assembly or demonstration, the organizer must submit a rally report to the competent police station between 720 hours (30 days) and 48 hours before the start of the event.

Members of conservative groups such as Liberty Solidarity and the Mom Corps submit rally reports as the first priority by waiting at the Jongno Police Station every day until midnight in accordance with this law. They plan to wait at the police station throughout this weekend as well to submit the rally report. Their plan is to submit rally reports daily and occupy the location until their demands, including the resignation of former director Yoon Mee-hyang (currently a member of the Democratic Party of Korea) and the dissolution of the Justice and Memory Foundation, are accepted.

Accordingly, the Justice and Memory Foundation (Jeonguiyeondae), which has held the Wednesday demonstrations here every week, will be pushed to a lower priority in selecting the location starting from the 23rd of this month. The area in front of the Statue of Peace has been the site where Jeonguiyeondae has held weekly demonstrations, conducting a total of 1,443 Wednesday demonstrations here from 1992 until the 10th of this month.

Until now, the Wednesday demonstrations proceeded without issue at this location, but as controversies surrounding Jeonguiyeondae and Representative Yoon arose, conservative groups began attempts to occupy this spot. Those supporting the Wednesday demonstrations are strongly opposing this. There are even suspicions that part-time workers might be hired to wait for submitting rally reports.

Regarding this, Kim Sang-jin, Secretary General of Liberty Solidarity, stated, "The claim that we hire part-time workers to wait is nonsense," adding, "We will take legal action against those spreading baseless rumors."

A police official said, "If the assembly locations and times overlap, we are reviewing measures such as dividing the locations under the Assembly and Demonstration Act to prevent conflicts and allow the assemblies to proceed."

Meanwhile, since the allegations related to Jeonguiyeondae surfaced, rallies by both Jeonguiyeondae and conservative groups have been held simultaneously around the Statue of Peace every week during the Wednesday demonstrations. Although there have been verbal disputes among some members so far without physical clashes, concerns are rising that conflicts may occur between the two sides starting from the day the conservative group holds its first rally in front of the Statue of Peace.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.