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A man sets himself on fire during a
weekly anti-Japan rally to demand for an official apology and compensation from
the Japanese government in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea,
August 12, 2015. Reuters/Son Hyung-ju/News1
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A 80-year old South Korean set himself
on fire on Wednesday during a protest calling for Japan to apologize for
forcing Korean girls and women to work in military brothels during World War
Two, days ahead of the anniversary of the end of hostilities. The self-immolation occurred during a
regular weekly demonstration outside the Japanese embassy ahead of the Aug. 15
anniversary marking 70 years since the end of Japan's colonial occupation of
the Korean peninsula. With the anniversary looming, Wednesday's protest was
larger than usual, with about 2,000 demonstrators, including three of the 47
known surviving Korean "comfort women", as they were euphemistically
called by Japan, organizers said.
Reuters
report continues:
Bystanders
covered the man with protest banners to put out the flames and paramedics took
him to hospital.
The
man, identified as Choi Hyun-yeol by a civic group with which he was
affiliated, was in critical condition with burns to his neck, face, and upper
torso, a hospital professor said.
"The
patient is old and has severe burns so his survival can't be guaranteed,"
the professor told reporters.
Choi's
father was a member of an anti-Japanese independence movement in 1932 and
jailed for a year, according to a statement posted online by the civic group,
which advocates for the rights of forced labour victims. Choi became a
supporter of the group last year.
In
South Korea, Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula remains a
sensitive subject.
South
Korea's ties with Japan have long been strained by what Seoul sees as Japanese
leaders' reluctance to atone for the country's wartime past, including a full
recognition of its role in forcing Korean girls and women to work in brothels.
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