A statue symbolizing victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery will be permanently installed at the University of Kassel in central Germany.

The university’s student body plans to hold an unveiling ceremony on Friday for the “Statue of Peace” which was installed the previous day after being flown in from South Korea.

The civic group Korea Verband, which organized the installation of the “Statue of Peace” in Berlin, said the university's student body early this year had conveyed its wish to house such a statue on its campus.

The group said the university's students sought to install the girl statue after learning that Japan was pressuring Germany to remove the one in Berlin. They wanted to prevent the victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery from again becoming victims due to diplomatic interests.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, some 40 protesters, including members of Korea Verband and the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, held a protest in front of the “Statue of Peace” on Wednesday and called for the statue’s permanence.

The statue was installed in September 2020 by Korea Verband under an agreement that it would remain in place for one year. The installation permit has since been extended by a year until this September.