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SEOUL / TOKYO (Reuters) – Next week, Japanese media will skip scrutiny of international fleets in South Korea, the Japanese press reported Thursday after Seoul asked Tokyo to reconsider the situation. use of his "rising sun" flag on a warship. & # 39; colonial history.
Sailors lay down the flag of the Japanese Navy after a flag-down ceremony on the deck of the Japanese Kaga helicopter carrier anchored near the Jakarta harbor before her departure for naval exercises in the Indian Ocean, Indonesia, September 21, 2018. REUTERS / Kim Kyung-Hoon
Japan's relations with South and North Korea have long been severely tested by persistent resentment of its colonization of the peninsula, territorial disputes and the problem of girls and women forced to work in brothels in Japan. during the war.
Cabinet Secretary-General Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference that the Japanese Ministry of Defense plans to participate, but the state-owned broadcaster NHK said Tokyo had already indicated in Seoul that it was unlikely to do it.
Many people in the two Koreas see the red and white flag as a symbol of Japan's past military aggression and its colonization of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
"The" Rising Sun "flag is a war crime flag that Japanese imperialists of the 20th century used to execute their barbarian invasions in our country and in other Asian countries," said the Uriminjokkiri website, controlled by the state.
"Planning to enter by flying the" Rising Sun "flag is an insulting insult and a ridicule for our people."
In South Korea, articles on controversy are among the most read articles on social media. The president's office has received 250 petitions demanding that the Japanese vessel be banned.
On Friday, the South Korean Navy said the Japanese navy ships were flying the flag when they participated in the fleet exams in 1998 and 2008, but she asked all the ships at this year's event. display the national and South Korean flags.
The "Rising Sun" flag, used by the Japanese Imperial Navy during campaigns in Asia and the Pacific before and during the Second World War, was adopted by the Maritime Self-Defense Force in 1954.
Flag variations are used by the Earth's self-defense force and the fatigues of some Japanese sailors, but some South Koreans liken it to Nazi symbols such as the swastika.
The Japanese authorities had announced that the flag would be flown despite the protests.
"The lifting of the flag of the maritime self-defense forces is required by law," Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff of the self-defense forces, told Katsuto Thursday.
"The members are proud of the flag, and we will never go there without a flag."
The South Korean Foreign Ministry has "stated that we were of the opinion that the Japanese side should fully take into account the emotional connotation of the flag of the rising sun to our people," said the Foreign Minister, Kang Kyung-wha.
Japan is a key player in the United States' efforts to isolate and punish North Korea for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
But it remains a major target of criticism, despite the tightening of ties between Pyongyang and Seoul. Northern leader Kim Jong Un embarked on a wave of diplomacy this year, when he also met with US and Chinese leaders.
Japan and South Korea often exchange excitement over controversial islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea.
Additional report by Tim Kelly to TOKYO; Additional writing by Linda Sieg in Tokyo; Edited by Clarence Fernandez
