사회

Stake Claiming Dokdo as Japanese Territory Found at Comfort Women Memorial in New Jersey, U.S.A

입력 2012.10.29 17:18

수정 2012.10.29 17:19

Kim Bo-mi

A stake and a sticker with words claiming that Dokdo is Japanese territory were found at a comfort women memorial in New Jersey, and the Korean Consulate General in New York, respectively. The details were similar to the "stake terror" on the comfort women statue in Seoul last June, so many believe someone of Japanese decent to be behind this act.

On October 27 (local time), the Korean Consulate General in Manhattan notified the police when they found a white sign with the words "Takeshima is Japan's Inherent Territory," beneath the signboard for their Public Service Center. The day before, a 5×5 cm sticker with the words "Dokdo is Japanese Territory" was also found below the signboard.

On October 26, a copy of the same sign later discovered at the Consulate General was taped over a comfort women memorial in front of the Palisades Park public library in New Jersey. A 1 meter long stake with the same words as those on the sign was also nailed into the ground next to the memorial.

Kim Dong-seok, executive director of Korean American Civic Empowerment, a group working towards improving the rights of Korean-Americans in the U.S., stands next to the comfort women memorial in Palisades Park, New Jersey, pointing to where the stake was pegged. The stake with the words, "Dokdo is Japan's Inherent Territory," collected by the U.S. police. Palisades Park | Yonhap News

Yoon Geum-jong, who discovered the stake told Yonhap News, "I discovered the stake when I came here this morning to replace the flower pots. The criminal must have left in a hurry, because the stake was not securely nailed into the ground, but was leaning against the monument." The U.S. police collected the stake and the sign, and are conducting an investigation.

A Korean civic group (Korean American Civic Empowerment), which organized the construction of the memorial in New Jersey, held a press conference and announced that this act was the same as driving the German Nazi symbol into the Holocaust Memorial Center.

They claimed it was a barbaric act of terror aimed at the citizens of the United States. James Rotundo, mayor of Palisades Park said the city would take appropriate measures if the investigation confirms this as something of a bias crime. He added that the memorial was public property, but not one in which people could trespass and do whatever they wanted by displaying their personal opinions.

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The shape of the stake and the expression used in this incident are similar to those in the "stake terror" of the comfort women statue in front of the Japanese embassy in Jongno, Seoul last June. The incident in June was revealed as the act of Suzuki Nobuyuki, a member of an extreme right-wing organization in Japan.

He also committed similar acts of terror at the Patriot Yun Bong-gil Memorial in Kanazawa, Japan and the War and Women's Human Rights Museum in Seoul. Korea has banned the entry of Suzuki into the country.

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Stake Claiming Dokdo as Japanese Territory Found at Comfort Women Memorial in New Jersey, U.S.A

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