OFFICIAL, TACIT APPROVAL FOR BUSAN'S COMFORT WOMAN STATUE|釜山少女像惹議 日召回駐韓代表已滿月

In other news, the row between two former wartime enemies, Japan and South Korea continues over a statue set up in Busan meant to commemorate Korean women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. Now the government of Busan has granted its tacit approval to the memorial, installing monitoring cameras around the statue. Japanese media sources say that the Japanese government may extend its protest against South Korea, and that envoys previously recalled are unlikely to return in the near future. This statue of a young woman, symbolizing the "comfort women" during World War II, sits in front of a Japanese consulate in Busan. Tourists and passerby stop to take pictures. After the statue was erected by a civil group at the end of last year, Japan recalled two high-ranking diplomats from South Korea on January 9th. So far, they have not returned. ==PARK SE-WOONG Security and Urban Affairs Bureau Chief, Busan Dong-gu== Speaking from the position of our district, now that the statue has been erected in accordance with the law, (we) cannot ignore it. We will have to accept it tacitly. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan urged South Korea to remove the statues in order to show the commitment of the two countries to the Japan-South Korea Comfort Women Agreement. However, with South Korean President Park Geun-hye suspended from her duties, the Japanese government could only negotiate with Busan City and the civil groups behind the statue. The plan was to move the statue, but negotiations have stalled. ==HWANG KYO-AHN Prime Minister, South Korea (Jan. 2017.)== For the sake of our two countries' future relationship, we must gather the wisdom of all parties and negotiate a solution on the governmental level. Tourist-oriented shops in Busan have seen their business affected. ==SOUVENIR SHOP OWNER Busan== The statue has caused a huge drop in Japanese tourists. This has had a negative impact on our sales. ==SOUVENIR SHOP OWNER Busan== Government officials in Korea and Japan should work together to solve this problem. Currently, the local district government in Busan has signaled tacit approval of the statue, and plans to install cameras around the statue by mid-February to monitor activity around it. Japanese media sources say that this comfort women controversy will not be resolved in the short term. The recalled diplomats are unlikely to return to South Korea in the near future. TRANSLATED BY：JOHN CHEN 象徵慰安婦的少女銅像，靜坐在日本駐南韓的領事館前，三不五時有遊客、路人上前拍照。南韓釜山少女像在去年年底設置後，引起日本抗議，日本駐韓大使"長嶺安政"與總領事"森本康敬"，兩名駐韓外交官在上個月9號返國後，就一直沒有回到駐在國南韓。 ==釜山市東區安全都市課課長 朴世雄== 以東區立場來說 少女像合法設置後 (我們)就無法視而不見 這是當然得徹底默認到底的狀況 日本首相安倍晉三，一度敦促南韓必須撤除少女像，展現兩國對履行"日韓慰安婦協議"的誠意，但南韓總統朴槿惠，遭到彈劾停職，當局跟釜山市與相關團體協議，打算以移設少女像方案取代，協議卻遲遲沒有進展。 ==南韓國務總理 黃教安(2017.1)== 為了兩國未來的關係 必須集合各方智慧 以政府等級(協議)進行解決 專做觀光客生意的釜山市店家，也因此受到影響。 ==釜山市土產店業者== 因為設置了少女象 日本觀光客大減 對銷售額出現了負面影響 ==釜山市土產店業者== 韓日兩國政府官員 應該互相發揮彼此的力量 希望能早日解決這問題 目前，釜山市東區自治單位，除了默認設立少女像外，還打算在2月中旬，在少女像周圍加裝監視器，由職員監看銅像狀況。日本媒體分析，這波圍繞著慰安婦問題的爭議，短期內將無法解決，兩位駐韓外交官，將可能會長期待在日本國內，不會回南韓。 記者 陳詩童 報導