Seoul: South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party and representatives of civic groups rallied on Thursday, protesting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s upcoming visit to Seoul.
Kishida is scheduled to visit South Korea for two days from Sunday to confirm cooperation with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The visit is hoped to pave the way for the Group of Seven summit in Japan later this month. Kishida has invited Yoon to attend the gathering.
Thursday’s rally was filled with banners, criticizing Japan for distorting history, exploiting forced Korean labor and comfort women during World War II, planning to release nuclear-polluted water into the sea and forging military alliances with the U.S. and Japan.
Days ahead of Kishida’s trip to Seoul, a verbal duel over disputed islets had been sparked between the two countries.
On Tuesday, a South Korean lawmaker visited the Dokdo islets (also called the Takeshima Islands in Japan), which are currently under the control of South Korea, but Japan claims them, saying South Korea is illegally occupying them. –Agencies
