[2] The installation of the memorial happened shortly after Toru Hashimoto, former mayor of Osaka, Japan, expressed that comfort women were necessary to maintain discipline within the Japanese army during World War II.
[3] The unveiling of the statue was also considered a celebration due to the passing of a 2007 United States House of Representatives resolution,[4] which urged the Japanese government to accept responsibility for their wartime crimes.
[7] Dozens of Japanese-Americans filled the City Hall chamber in opposition to the installation of the statue, with some claiming the comfort women narrative depicted by Koreans as manufactured or exaggerated.
[2] A lawsuit was then filed by two Glendale residents, Michiko Shiota Gingery and Koichi Mera together with the Global Alliances for Historical Truth-US Corp, a non-profit organization dedicated to “defending the honor of Japan”.
An additional point raised by activists states that Japan and South Korea made the agreement because of pressure from the U.S. government to form a united front for national security reasons.
[5] The coordinator of the Korean American Forum of California, Won Choi expressed the importance of the statue because it reminds people of the rights that were violated, and to warn others about the vulnerability women face in time of war.