A Japanese right-wing activist said Saturday he would not honor summons by Seoul prosecutors for him to appear for questioning over his alleged provocative act over South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo.
Nobuyuki Suzuki, known as a conservative activist, was sued by a group of former South Korean sex slaves for Japan's wartime soldiers for defamation in connection with a controversial wooden post he tied to a symbolic statue of a sex slave in front of the Japanese Embassy in downtown Seoul in June.
The wooden post had a sign that read, "Dokdo is Japanese territory."
The statue of a young girl was set up in December by a group of former sex slaves and their supporters to symbolize Korean women who were forced to serve as prostitutes at Japanese military brothels during World War II.
South Korean prosecutors earlier this month issued summons for the Japanese activist to appear for questioning on Sept. 18.
In an Internet posting Saturday, Suzuki denied any wrongdoing in connection with the case so he would not respond to the South Korean summons.
"I'm busy for another appointment (on the day Seoul's prosecution designated for questioning), and I don't think I committed any crimes," Suzuki said in a message posted on his blog.
He even ridiculed the Korean summons, saying that he had sent a similar wooden Dokdo stake to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
The prosecutors' office in charge of the case was not immediately available for confirmation.
Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were forced into sexual slavery for Japan's World War II soldiers.
South Korea is pressing Japan to pay compensation and extend a formal apology to the victims but Tokyo refuses to do so, saying the matter was settled by a 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries.
Tensions run high between the two neighbors over Tokyo's repeated claim to the South Korean islets and its leaders' frequent denial of Japan committing any wartime atrocities, including the sexual slavery of Korean women, euphemistically called "comfort women." (Yonhap News)
<관련 한글 기사>
‘영토분쟁’ 반일 시위대, 대사관 앞에서...
일본군 위안부 소녀상 등에 `말뚝테러'를 자행한 일본인 스즈키 노부유키 씨가 자신에게 출석 요구를 한 검찰에도 '말뚝'을 보냈다.
그는 15일 자신의 블로그를 통해 "서울중앙지검에 `다케시마의 비' 말뚝을 증정 했다"고 밝혔다.
그는 이어 "검찰이 보낸 소환장에는 `출석 요구에 응하지 않으면 대한민국 형사 소송법에 의해 체포된다'라고 적혀 있었다"며 "난 지방에서 약속이 있어 바쁘며, 죄 를 지었다고도 생각하지 않는다"고 주장했다.
서울중앙지검은 위안부 피해자들과 시민단체들이 지난 6월 위안부 평화비(소녀상)에 말뚝을 놓고 동영상을 찍은 스즈키 씨를 명예훼손 등의 혐의로 고소함에 따라 지난 5일 그가 일하는 일본의 극우 정당으로 출석 요구서를 보낸 바 있다.
스즈키 씨는 지난달 22일에는 일본인 2명을 보내 한국정신대문제대책협의회(정대협)와 동북아역사재단 앞에도 말뚝을 설치해 논란을 빚었다.
