WW2-ANNIVERSARY/S. KOREA-SELF IMMOLATION Man self-immolates at anti-Japan rally in support of "comfort women" in Seoul

Record ID: 144347

  • Title: WW2-ANNIVERSARY/S. KOREA-SELF IMMOLATION Man self-immolates at anti-Japan rally in support of "comfort women" in Seoul
  • Date: 12th August 2015
  • Summary: POLICE LINE / STRETCHER PASSING THROUGH CROWDS BEHIND THE STAGE
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6IR93Q7DINJMP5K64JI5E2W3P
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS NOTE, PLEASE REFER TO 0078-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/FILE-PART ONE AND 0079-WW2-ANNIVERSARY/FILE-PART TWO SENT ON AUGUST 9 FOR FILE MATERIAL
    An elderly South Korean man set himself on fire on Wednesday (August 12) at a protest in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, days before the August 15th anniversary marking 70 years since the end of Japan's colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula.
    The self-immolation came during a regular weekly demonstration outside the Japanese embassy in downtown Seoul calling for Japan to apologise for forcing Korean women to work in military brothels during World War Two.
    With the anniversary looming, the protest was larger than usual, with about 2,000 demonstrators, including 3 of the 47 known surviving Korean "comfort women," as they were euphemistically called by Japan, according to organisers.
    As flames enveloped the man, bystanders ran to cover him with protest banners and water. Paramedics then took him to hospital.
    A firefighter said the man was still alive and it appeared that he had tried to kill himself by setting himself on fire. He had with him a soft-drink bottle that he smelt of gasoline, according to a Reuters witness at the scene.
    Yonhap News Agency reported that the man in his 80s had travelled from the southern city of Gwangju.
    In South Korea, Japan's 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean peninsula and the legacy World War Two remains a sensitive subject.
    South Korea's ties with Japan have long been strained by what Seoul sees as Japanese leaders' reluctance to adequately atone for the country's wartime past, including a full recognition of its role in forcing Korean women to work in military brothels.
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