You're making fun of the girl statue, you're making a terror attack...There's no way to impose sanctions.

[Anchor]
Recently, a foreign YouTuber made a controversy by teasing a statue of a girl of peace honoring the victims of the Japanese military's "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery."

Damage to the statue and terrorism have been repeated since the first statue was installed in front of the Japanese Embassy in 2011, and critics point out that it is a problem because there are no regulations to sanction it.

Reporter Lim Ye-jin reports.

[Reporter]
The Man Who Mouths the Peace Girl Statue, Johnny Somali, an American YouTuber who recently became controversial for a series of nuisance actions in Korea.

Police have been charged with obstruction of business for the disturbance of convenience stores, but it is difficult to punish the girl statue under the current law.

This is because the girl statue is not subject to insult or defamation because it is an object, and it is difficult to charge property damage unless it is damaged.

[Won Hye-wook / Professor of law at Inha University] If you put pressure on a person by going on a rampage or did something insulting in the process, it could lead to assault or insult. If there is no such thing, I think it would be a misdemeanor.]

In order to find such loopholes, terrorist attacks on the girl statue are continuing across the country, such as putting masks or black plastic bags that say "Erased" and signs that say "Those things" or "Fraud of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery."

The so-called "Girl Statue Demolition Challenge" has also appeared, taking this picture and posting it on social media.A law has been proposed by the National Assembly that calls for punishment for damaging monuments to honor victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery, such as the

girl statue, but it has not exceeded the standing committee for three months.

The government's plan to identify the status of girl statues was also introduced for the first time this year, and only 34% of 154 girl statues installed nationwide were created and managed by local governments.

However, furthermore, legal grounds are needed to sanction the damage or insult of the girl statue.

[Shin Young-sook / Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family (Last month's 30th/National Assembly Audit) : We will monitor the relevant matters and as you said. As far as I know, the National Assembly is now discussing related discussions. We will actively cooperate with that.]

The Statue of Peace was first installed in front of the Japanese Embassy in 2011 with the aim of remembering the history of the Japanese military sexual slavery issue and stopping wartime sexual violence at the 1,000th Wednesday rally.

While away from the government's interest and protection, the hardship of the girl statue announcing the "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery" issue of the Japanese military in Japanese colonial era continues.

I'm YTN's Lim Yejin.

Reporter for shooting
: Jin Soo-hwan
Design: Lee Ga-eun