Jun 01 (NHK) - Authorities in the South Korean city of Busan removed a controversial statue from a public road near the Japanese Consulate General on Thursday.
Labor union members protested the removal, and a scuffle developed with the police.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions says the statue symbolizes the Koreans who were forced to work under harsh conditions in mines and factories in Japan in World War Two, during the period of Japanese colonial rule.
The group installed the statue less than 100 meters from the consulate on May 1st. Police had previously blocked an attempt to put it in front of the building next to another statue symbolizing those referred to as comfort women.
On Thursday, under a heavy police presence, the authorities used a forklift to remove the statue and took it away after about 20 minutes.
It will be displayed at a national museum that commemorates the wartime laborers.
The authorities had set a Tuesday deadline for the group to remove the statue.
