Carmel-based sculptor Steven Whyte is known for creating characters that resonate emotionally with viewers. For Column of Strength, he worked with live models from California's Central Coast, crafting three distinct figures who stand together in solidarity. The girls' posture emphasizes their strength rather than their victimization, their direct gaze carrying what Whyte intended as both accusation and endurance. An elderly woman stands beside them, looking up, representing the survivors who waited decades for acknowledgment. Whyte reflected that this story had been hidden for so long that if his work could make people look into history and learn from it, his work would be done.

The unveiling triggered an international incident. Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura protested the memorial and threatened to dissolve the sister-city relationship between Osaka and San Francisco, a bond that had existed since 1957. When San Francisco officially accepted the statue as city property, Yoshimura followed through on his threat. According to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, he claimed the relationship of trust was completely destroyed by the statue's placement. The dissolution ended one of the oldest sister-city relationships in the United States, a partnership that had survived decades of cultural exchange, natural disasters, and political changes.

The memorial stands near Saint Mary's Square, at the crossroads of San Francisco's Chinatown and Financial District. Retired California judge Julie Tang, chairman of the Comfort Women Justice Coalition, stated that the memorial addresses the broader issue of women's freedom from sexual violence during wartime. The inscription acknowledges that an estimated 400,000 women from Korea, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other Asian countries were subjected to systematic sexual slavery through deceit, coercion, and brutal force. For many survivors and their families, the decades-long struggle for acknowledgment continues. The statue serves as what District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar described as a starting point for education and healing.

Today, the memorial draws visitors who pause to read the inscriptions and study the faces of the bronze figures. It joins a growing network of comfort women memorials worldwide, including statues in South Korea, the Philippines, and other U.S. cities. The Column of Strength represents more than historical remembrance. It stands as testimony that some truths, once hidden, cannot be silenced. The three girls continue their vigil in the heart of San Francisco, their bronze eyes meeting the gaze of everyone who passes, asking viewers to remember what happened and to ensure it never happens again.