A city council member from Glendale, California claims he faced pressure from Japan's consul general in nearby Los Angeles to take down a statue honoring Korean victims of Japan's sexual slavery during World War Two.

According to the Comfort Women Action for Redress and Education, an advocacy group, Frank Quintero made the claim during a question and answer session following a recent screening of “Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue,” a documentary film on the sex slavery issue.

Quintero said the Japanese consul general in L.A. Akira Muto, who assumed the post this year, had said that his sole duty as consul general is to have the statue removed.

Quintero, a former mayor of Glendale, played a key role in bringing the bronze statue depicting a young girl to the city in 2013.

The statue was the first of its kind to be established in the United States. Four more have been installed in various locations since.