Overnight Stand-off in Front of the Statue of a Girl Ahead of Wednesday Protest... "Concerns of Clash"

University students affiliated with the Anti-Abe Anti-Japan Youth Student Coalition staged a sit-in protest on the 24th in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, connecting their bodies to the Statue of Peace with ropes and banners. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] On the morning of the 24th, the Statue of Peace in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Susong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The area around here saw a standoff between two groups continuing throughout the night. From this day, a conservative group that occupied the area in front of the statue as a rally site and a student group trying to defend the rally site clashed. The student group BanAbeBanIl Youth Student Joint Action, which has been campaigning to protect the statue, has been blocking those approaching the statue with their bodies tied together with ropes from the afternoon of the previous day until this day. The conservative group Liberty Solidarity also stood off overnight to secure the rally site.

The Justice Memory Solidarity (Jeong-ui-yeon) plans to hold the 1445th regular Wednesday rally from 12 PM at the Yonhap News building in Susong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. This location is about 20 meters away from the statue, which had been used as the rally site every time. This is the first time since the Wednesday protests began that Jeong-ui-yeon has moved the location.

The conservative group Liberty Solidarity, which occupied this location, took a position about 2 meters away from the statue and held a rally simultaneously. Originally, Liberty Solidarity planned to hold the rally right in front of the statue where Jeong-ui-yeon had held weekly rallies. However, concerns about damage to the statue were raised, leading Jongno-gu Office to request the police to protect the facility. The police installed order maintenance lines and arranged for rallies to be held on both sides while keeping the area near the statue clear. The statue was designated as a public sculpture by Jongno-gu in 2017.

University students affiliated with the Ban-Abe Ban-Il Youth Student Coalition are staging a sit-in protest on the 24th in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, opposing the conservative group's occupation of the Peace Statue rally site. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

So far, a standoff has been ongoing in various places around the statue between conservative groups and supporters of Jeong-ui-yeon. During this process, some verbal disputes occurred among members, but no major clashes happened. However, the police plan to maintain order on-site in preparation for possible conflicts during or after the rallies.

Until now, there had been no cases of other groups occupying this location as a rally site, so Jeong-ui-yeon was able to conduct the Wednesday protests without issues. However, as controversies surrounding Jeong-ui-yeon and lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang arose, Liberty Solidarity began attempts to occupy this spot. Liberty Solidarity has occupied the statue site from this day until mid-July. Every night until midnight, they wait at the jurisdictional police station, Jongno Police Station, and submit rally applications as the first priority.

They plan to continue submitting rally applications daily and occupying the location until their demands, including lawmaker Yoon’s resignation and the dissolution of Jeong-ui-yeon, are accepted. Accordingly, the Wednesday protests are expected to continue in this manner for the time being.

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