The Gunma Prefectural Government wants to take down a monument in the city of Takasaki commemorating Korean forced laborers in wartime Japan, according to a local citizens' group administering the memorial.
The group's members said they are refusing to comply with the government's insistent requests to remove the monument, which is located in a prefectural park.
Representatives of the group said the prefecture had rejected their application to renew permission for the monument, claiming the park was being used for political campaigning in violation of a law prohibiting the use of public places for political activities.