SOUTH KOREA: Anti-Japanese rally in Seoul ahead of Japanese prime minister's visit

Record ID: 463573

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: Anti-Japanese rally in Seoul ahead of Japanese prime minister's visit
  • Date: 9th October 2009
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (OCTOBER 8, 2009) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS TRYING TO TEAR JAPANESE FLAGS, POLICEMEN TRYING TO STOP THEM PROTESTERS TEARING FLAGS TORN FLAG ON GROUND VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS PROTEST LEADER SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) PROTEST LEADER CHOI JAE-IK SAYING: "Japan should apologise sincerely first, then we would forgive them and make efforts together to be two major countries in East Asia in the 21st century." PROTESTERS MARCHING TOWARD SEOUL'S JAPANESE EMBASSY VARIOUS OF RALLY IN FRONT OF EMBASSY
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3NE3KEGI57ZK7ZRXRR5V5IE4Q
  • Story Text: South Korea's civic group members held an anti-Japanese rally in Seoul on Thursday (October 8), a day ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's visit to the South Korean capital to hold a summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
    The two state heads will discuss bilateral matters including North Korea's nuclear issues before the trilateral summit with China in Beijing on Saturday (October 10).
    A small group of South Koreans held the anti-Japanese protest at a park in Seoul, chanting slogans and tearing Japanese flags.
    "Japan should apologise sincerely first, then we would forgive them and make efforts together to be two major countries in East Asia in the 21st century," said Choi Jae-ik, a protest leader.
    Koreans have strong anti-Japanese sentiment since Japan colonised the Korean peninsula for 35 years.
    Many of them, however, expect the progressive Hatoyama administration to handle Korea-related matters in a different way to the previous conservative administrations.
    Japan and Korea have had disputes over a history textbook, former comfort women, small islands called Dokdo or Takeshima and Japanese politicians' visit to the Yasukuni Shrine for war criminals.
    The Japanese education ministry's approval of a history text book written by nationalist scholars have outraged both South Korea and China with what critics said was a whitewashing of history.
    Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said on Wednesday (October 7) it would be ideal for China, Japan and South Korea to write a history book based on a common recognition of the history of the countries.
    South Korea's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan agreed to Minister Okada's idea on Thursday.
    South Korea has stationed a small group of policemen at the islets -- Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan. There have been territorial disputes between the two countries over the lone islands, also known as Linacour Rocks.
    South Korea's civic group members and former comfort women have asked Japan to formally apologise for forcing women into sex slavery during World War Two and to compensate victims.
    "Comfort women" is a Japanese euphemism for the estimated 200,000 women forced to provide sex for Japan's soldiers at battle-zone brothels during World War Two.
    Historians say thousands of Korean women were forced to be sex slaves during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910-1945.
    During his visit to Seoul in June, Hatoyama as the leader of opposition Democratic Party promised not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. He has not visited the shrine so far either as the leader of Democratic Party or as Japan's prime minister.
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