A girl statue symbolizing Japan's wartime sex slaves will be designated public property as early as April, a district office in Seoul said Tuesday, amid a deepening diplomatic row over the monument.

The statue was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in 2011 to honor the "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II. Historians estimate there were up to 200,000 victims, mostly from Korea.
 

In April, the district council of Jongno will seek to pass an amendment to an ordinance to allow the district to designate monuments like the girl statue as public property. Under the amendment, local authorities will have direct control over managing the statue, including repairs.

The revision is also expected to make it more difficult to remove the statue at a later date.

"To relocate or remove the girl statue, the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan will first have to be informed as the main group behind its construction, after which the district's urban space art committee will have to deliberate on it," an official said, referring to a civic group that advocates the rights and interests of Koreans victimized by Japan in the early half of the 20th century.

Seoul and Tokyo have long locked horns over the sex slavery issue. In 2015, they struck a deal involving an apology from the Japanese government and monetary compensation for the victims, but it was widely rejected by the public.

In January, Tokyo recalled its ambassador to Seoul in protest over another girl statue that was erected in front of the Japanese consulate in the southeastern city of Busan. The envoy has yet to return. (Yonhap)