![On the 1st, participants at the 1,746th regular Wednesday protest calling for resolution of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery posed for a photo with the Statue of Peace in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno, Seoul. [Photo=Yonhap News]](https://cdn-union.viewus.co/contents/crawler-dev/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0070/image-84ec3b1e-4fde-4330-9733-40183ad96e52.jpeg)
Police will remove the barricades around the Statue of Peace, which symbolizes victims of the Japanese military’s wartime sexual slavery, for the first time in about six years.
On the 28th, Jongno Police Station said the barricades installed around the statue in front of the former Japanese Embassy in Jongno will be taken down to coincide with the regular Wednesday protest addressing the issue on the 6th of next month.
The removal is meant to symbolically restore the statue as a space the public can freely approach.
The barricades were installed in June 2020 at the request of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance amid concerns that counter-protest gatherings could damage the monument. The council owns the statue, and Jongno District has designated and manages it as the district’s No. 1 public sculpture.
The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance plans to hold a ceremony at the Wednesday protest on the 6th to mark the removal. Kim Seo-kyung, the artist who helped create the statue, is expected to attend.
Police said they will continue security measures, including deploying mobile units, to maintain order after the barricades are removed.
