[3] The Wednesday demonstration started in 1992 and, nearly 20 years later, the idea for the Statue of Peace was proposed by the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.

[4] More specifically, the council proposed that a memorial stone be erected in front of the embassy of Japan in Seoul to commemorate the pain of comfort women as the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial military.

[6] It depicts a girl dressed in a chima jeogori, a modified form of hanbok in the late-19th to early-20th century, with small hands and short hair, sitting and staring at the embassy of Japan in central Seoul.

Seoul, and especially the victims, have rejected such demands, consistently arguing that the Japanese government has never officially admitted the direct involvement of its military in the comfort women issue.

[13] South Korea terminated the 2015 agreement in November 2018 and effectively shut down the Japanese-funded comfort women foundation that was set up to pay the agreed settlement.

After the vote, city staff wrote "The memorials have attracted a wide range of community response including peaceful and antagonistic free speech events, vandalism, Asian hate, and legal action requesting removal".

[29] A replica of the statue, located in Stintino, Italy, has reportedly caused Japanese far-right figures to send threatening emails, letters, and packages to the government of the commune.