The reason why the author of ‘Statue of Peace’ took out his copyright law sword in response to the Busan bag terror attack

“For several years now, they have been meticulously and systematically disrupting the Wednesday demonstrations, insulting the victims, and pouring out hateful remarks, and we have finally come to the point where they have damaged the Peace Girl Statue, which was wrapped in black plastic with tape.”

Ji Eun-joo, co-representative of Busan People Hana, who spoke at the Busan Wednesday Demonstration, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on the 24th, relayed the words of writers Kim Un-seong and Kim Seo-kyung and announced that they had taken legal action. It was revealed for the first time today that the artist who sculpted the Busan Statue of Peace and the statue of a forced laborer in response to the recent ‘black bag terror’ personally filed a complaint the day before on charges of violating copyright law.

On the 6th, the statue of a girl in Busan, which was erected through citizen fundraising to demand Japan’s apology and compensation, suffered as it was covered with a black plastic bag along with a mask with the word ‘demolition’ written on it. Mr. A, a man in his 30s, did the same thing to the statue of a worker near the statue of a girl. The police guarding the Japanese consulate stopped him and collected the bag, but the traces remained intact on the Internet.

Mr. A created additional controversy by posting a mocking post on Ilbe, a far-right community, along with a photo, saying, “Isn’t it a crime to cover a statue of a girl with plastic?” This incident eventually expanded into a complaint by Busan People’s Association, a civic group participating in the Busan Citizens’ Action to Protect the Girl Statue. (Related article: Busan civic group accuses man of putting black bag on statue of girl for demolition” https://omn.kr/288ko)

However, even when charges of property damage and insults are filed, punishment is not simple. This is because the symbolic sculpture itself was not damaged and was not intended for people. The denigration of the girl statue is currently ongoing. A far-right group is carrying out a nationwide ‘Comfort Women Statue Removal Mask Challenge’. Mr. A’s actions came out of this movement.

Writers Kim Un-seong and Kim Seo-kyung raised the copyright issue because they thought it should sound an alarm. The statue of a girl in Busan has suffered from trouble several times in the past, including piled up trash, being tied to bicycles, and pieces of cloth with the words “Park Chung-hee” written on them. Taking this incident as an opportunity, the two writers emphasized that “investigative agencies should not tolerate this.”

had a phone call with writers Kim Woon-seong and Kim Seo-kyung immediately after completing the on-site coverage of the Busan Wednesday demonstrations. The following is a summary of the spot interview.

“The intention is to damage the image of the work… it is a terrible act.”

– A complaint was filed with the police on the afternoon of the 23rd. What is it about?

“We filed a complaint against Mr. A, who covered the black bag on the 6th, at the Busan East Police Station on the afternoon of the 23rd. All creative works have copyrights, and this is considered to be almost the same as moral rights. Attacking our works is an act of damaging copyright. It is a request to punish those who infringe copyright.

The Copyright Act stipulates copyright property rights and moral rights, and moral rights include the right to maintain identity (the right to maintain the content and format of the work created by the author; any changes to this are considered a personal infringement on the author – reporter’s note). “If you cover a work of art called the Statue of a Girl with a plastic bag, take a picture of it, and post a comment, you should be punished for violating the right to maintain identity.”

– This is the first time that copyright infringement, rather than property damage or insult, has been filed.

“The girl statue has gone through this kind of trouble many times. This time, it was completely covered with black plastic and the purpose of demolition was written on a mask to announce the purpose. This was not an accident, but was thoroughly prepared. The intention to damage the image of the work was clearly revealed. Therefore, the copyright is not valid. “It was judged to have been damaged.”

– Such attempts are continuing.

“This is happening along the lines of denial of history and distortion of facts. Since there is nothing to be gained by arguing about past history, people are holding microphones, filming, and gradually spreading this behavior to online spaces. Those who disrupted the Wednesday demonstration in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul are also “It was one team, but now it has divided into several teams, and rather than discussing history in a public forum in a democratic society, they are trying to achieve their goals through obstruction, damage, and ridicule.”

– Is this related to the Yoon Seok-yeol administration’s attempts to improve Korea-Japan relations?

“As the President stands on Japan’s side, the actions of far-right groups and YouTubers are getting worse. This is not the improvement in Korea-Japan relations that the government is talking about, but bad news. No matter how much you deny it, aren’t the facts and truth clear? Truly. If we want to improve relations, isn’t it necessary to acknowledge the past, make an official apology, and declare to prevent recurrence?

In 2019, when the statue was displayed at the official invitation at the Aichi Triennale (Japan’s largest international arts festival), Japanese citizens lined up to take pictures with the statue and said they were sorry. “Controversy arose at the time when a far-right figure attacked the statue outside, saying it was an anti-Japanese statue (at the time, the statue was suspended from display due to this incident – ​​reporter’s note). This came to Korea, and is becoming more active under this administration.”

– Do you think the complaint will yield meaningful results?

“They are encouraging criminal activity by even mentioning the challenge. It is difficult to tolerate. This means that if this is not investigated and brought to trial, it will be tolerated. Investigative agencies and the judiciary should not aid and abet this. Protect art and protect creative freedom. For this reason, it must be taken seriously.

If we leave it like this, there will be no place for artists. And above all, it is a terrible thing to try to achieve the goal by attacking in this way rather than wiping away the tears of the victims of war crimes during the Japanese colonial period and holding hands. “I want to sound the alarm here.”