MOSCOW, February 24 (RAPSI, Ingrid Burke) - A city in southern California has been sued for unconstitutional interference with the authority of the US Government to conduct foreign relations in a case arising from the city’s recent construction of a monument to so-called “comfort women,” a class of women who were allegedly forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese authorities during World War II.

According to a complaint filed last week, “During World War II and the decade leading up to it, an unknown number of women from Japan, Korea, China, and a number of nations in Southeast Asia, were recruited, employed, and/or otherwise acted as sexual partners for troops of the Japanese Empire in various parts of the Pacific Theater of war. These women are often referred to as comfort women, a loose translation of the Japanese word for prostitute.”

The governments of South Korea and Japan have disputed the historical record surrounding these women since the 1980s, with particular regard to whether they were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial government and its military, or whether they were recruited by private entities.

The City Council of Glendale, a Los Angeles suburb, approved a motion in July 2013 to install a monument to Korean comfort women in a public park.

According to the complaint, the decision courted a great deal of controversy. At the meeting during which the motion was approved, “numerous individuals, including Japanese-Americans, publicly opposed and condemned the proposed installation of the statue, arguing that the comfort women issue is a matter of current diplomatic communications between South Korea and Japan, and the disputed view advanced by the South Korean government on comfort women.”

Later that same month, the monument was unveiled. The 1,100 lb. bronze sculpture featured a Korean woman sitting next to an empty chair. A plaque accompanying the monument accused the Japanese government of having coerced upwards of 200,000 women into sexual slavery, and “urging the Japanese Government to accept historical responsibility for these… unconscionable violations of human rights.”

The complaint points out that the City Council had not voted to approve the language featured on the plaque.

The monument and the plaque’s language provoked a heated outcry, inspiring a federal petition seeking the monument’s removal. The petition, filed with the White House’s “We the People” website, states: “Please remove the statue in a public park in Glendale, California. It is a statue of a Comfort Women masquerading as a peace statue while in essence after reading the inscription it is promoting hate towards the people and nation of Japan.” [Sic.] At the time of writing, the petition has accumulated 127,301 signatures. The White House is required to respond to any petition submitted to We the People that attracts an excess of 100,000 signatures.

The Japanese government has likewise made its displeasure clear. According to the complaint, on July 24, Press Secretary Kuni Sato of the Japanese Foreign Ministry officially expressed Japan’s displeasure with the monument, noting its failure to “coincide with our understanding” of the controversy. The following week, Japanese Ambassador to the US Kenichiro Sasae described the monument as “highly regrettable” and “irreconcilable” with Japan’s official position on the matter.

In August, even Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chimed in, expressing his extreme dissatisfaction with the installation.

Then in January 2014, 321 Japanese legislators submitted an official letter of protest to Glendale. Requesting the monument’s immediate removal, the letter ominously warned, “the distorted view of history that the statue represents . . . will surely jeopardize world peace and the possibility of a bright future for our children.”

The lawsuit was filed by Glendale resident Michiko Shiota Gingery, Los Angeles resident Koichi Mera, and non-profit organization GAHT-US Corporation, which is dedicated to providing educational resources on the history of World War II, with a particular emphasis on Japan’s role therein. Defendants include the City of Glendale and Glendale City Manager Scott Ochoa, in his official capacity. 

The complaint asserts that Glendale’s installation of the monument infringes upon the federal government’s exclusive power to conduct foreign affairs, and seeks injunctive relief in the form of the monument’s removal, and declaratory relief in the form of a declaration by the court that the monument’s installation was unconstitutional. The complaint further seeks legal costs and attorneys’ fees, and any additional relief deemed just and proper by the court.