A South Korean man stabbed himself on Friday (January 4) at a demonstration protesting against the arrival of Japanese special envoys in Seoul.
Sixty-three-year-old Kim Chang-geun stood with the other four protesters waiting for Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's special envoys who are set to meet South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye.
He stabbed himself in the stomach with a knife in protest against the visit, protesters said.
He was taken away by police to the hospital after confiscating his bloody knife.
The other protesters stayed on to voice their opposition to the Japanese envoys' visit.
"Japan has to send its special envoys here after it makes an apology to Korea and the international society (about the past). Without the apology, the special envoy's visit doesn't mean anything. It's meaningless," said anti-Japan protest leader Oh Cheon-do.
Japan's relations with South Korea frayed badly in August after outgoing President Lee Myung-bak visited a disputed set of islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea.
Koreans also harbor bitter resentment of Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945.
Japan's new prime minister's special envoy team led by former Finance Minister Nukaga arrived in Gimpo International Airport.
The hawkish Abe, who wants to recast Japan's wartime history in less apologetic tones, led his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to a landslide victory in the December 16 lower house election, putting the conservative party back in power after a three-year hiatus.
-Reuters