불거진 '욱일기' 논란… 한국은 게양자제 요청, 일본은 거부
14 countries have been invited to the International Fleet Review a major naval event set to be held here in Korea.
Participating ships are asked to fly its own national flag as well as the South Korean flag.
But Japan is stirring controversy by sticking to its decision of hoisting the Rising Sun flag,... rejecting the host nation's request to not do so.
Kan Hyeong-woo provides a closer look into the matter.
South Korea's foreign ministry says the Japanese government is refusing to budge on its plan to fly the controversial Rising Sun flag at the International Fleet Review,… that's set to take place next week at a military port on South Korea's Jeju Island.
The Rising Sun flag was used throughout feudal Japan and later officially became a battle flag for the new imperial Japan.
So countries that have suffered under Japan's brutal colonization, including South Korea, China and the Philippines, resent it.
For them, the flag is considered an equivalent to the Nazi Flag.
Given the level of strong public sentiment over the matter, Seoul's foreign ministry and the South Korean Navy have asked Japan's Maritime Self-Defense forces not to hoist the flag.
But Tokyo has so far rebuffed the request and claims the country's warships are required by law to fly the Rising Sun flag… with the UN convention on the Law of the Sea allowing every nation's naval force to fly its own military flag.
But a South Korea-based Japan expert says it would be terribly disrespectful behavior.
"First, flying the Rising Sun flag is diplomatically ill-mannered. It also completely neglects the host nation's request. Many people in Japan also see the rising flag as a symbol of invasion. But the Abe administration continues to distort history and neglect it, leading to situations like this."
To fight back against what is seen in Seoul as Japan's continuing impudence, a South Korean lawmaker has even proposed revisions to current regulations to prohibit ships flying the Rising Sun flag from entering South Korea's territorial waters.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.
