Proud of Having a Son?... Photo of Joseon Woman Exposing Chest 'Taken by Japanese' Removed from German Museum

"Japanese Person Poses Model in Studio for Shoot"
"Exhibited as if Taken by a German Photographer"

The Humboldt Forum in Berlin, Germany, has removed a photo of a Joseon woman exposing her breasts, believed to have been taken by a Japanese photographer.

On the 20th (local time), the Museum of Asian Art and Ethnology at the Humboldt Forum in Germany removed the photo of a Joseon woman exposing her breasts, titled "Water-Collecting Woman," from the special Korean artifact exhibition "Aririrang."

The photo of a Joseon woman exposing her chest (above), which was exhibited at the Humboldt Forum Korean Artifacts Special Exhibition, was confirmed to have been removed on the 20th (local time). The place where the photo was displayed (below) is empty.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Initially, the photo was displayed with the explanation that it was presumed to have been taken by Adolf Fischer, who worked at the German consulate in Beijing and visited Korea in 1905. However, it was actually taken by a Japanese photographer and circulated from the mid-1890s. It was included in a photo album of Korean customs and scenes published by a photo studio in Gyeongseong (Seoul) operated by Japanese in 1907.

The photo was described under the title "Proud Mothers," stating that from the mid-Joseon period, women proudly exposed their nursing breasts to show that they had given birth to sons.

Kim Kyung-hyup, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out during the audit of the Korean Embassy in Germany, "The photo of a Joseon woman exposing her breasts, taken by a Japanese photographer in a studio, was exhibited as if it were taken by a German. This photo was intentionally produced by Japan to objectify Joseon women and create an image that Joseon culture was inferior and uncivilized."

It was criticized as a photo produced by Japan to promote the idea that "uncivilized Joseon must be under Japanese colonial rule."

The Museum of Asian Art and Ethnology at the Humboldt Forum removed the photo immediately after Korean media reports on the 17th. Additionally, a Japanese woman's hair ornament, Kanzashi, which had been introduced as a 20th-century Korean binyeo (hairpin), also disappeared.

Yonhap News Agency requested the museum's position and future plans regarding the removal of the exhibits on the 19th but did not receive an official response.

A representative of the Korean Cultural Center in Germany stated, "The National Museum of Korea is reviewing other exhibition explanations. Once the overall review is completed and sent, urgent issues will be resolved immediately." The number of items under verification reaches 16.

Since the 13th, the Museum of Asian Art and Ethnology at the Humboldt Forum has been holding the special Korean artifact exhibition "Aririrang ? Fascination with a Closed Kingdom," showcasing 120 items out of about 1,800 Korean artifacts from the Joseon Dynasty (1392?1910) and others, which have been in the collection of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation's Ethnological Museum but were previously not publicly displayed. The exhibition runs until April 21 of next year.

The Humboldt Forum introduced in a press release that a research project on the Korean collection at the Ethnological Museum, led by former Free University of Berlin professor Lee Jeong-hee, provided the academic foundation for the exhibition.

This exhibition, the first planned by Maria Sobotka, the curator dedicated to the Korean Pavilion at the Humboldt Forum hired last October with support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was sponsored by the Korean Embassy in Germany, the Korean Cultural Center, the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), and the National Museum of Korea.

Kim Hong-gyun, the Korean Ambassador to Germany, stated during the audit, "The National Museum of Korea and the Humboldt Forum are discussing the raised errors. I understand that the Humboldt Forum does not hold the position that no corrections are needed."

He added, "Going forward, the embassy will actively engage to correct the mistakes and will discuss, negotiate, and cooperate on controversial issues."

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