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Yonhap Newas

"Burn it"
Nation Furious as Neo-Imperialism Rises in Japan

A huge crowd is amassed outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul. As a thin line of police stand between the mob and the gates of the embassy, a huge rising sun is unfurled in clear view of the building's staff. The crowd can be heard chanting "burn it" in Korean as a woman with a Korea taegugki painted on her face dumps fuel all over the massive flag. As she does this, people take the opportunity to spit on and step on the rising sun, which quickly becomes marked with mud and dirt. Next, the woman lights a match, and when she drops it onto the flag, the crowd lets it go as the whole thing erupts in flames. There's a chorus of cheers.

There's a shockingly similar situation in the National Assembly, when the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties stand together, each gripping a Japanese flag with one hand. They tear it apart, and the entire chamber suddenly explodes with applause.

The President, at a press conference, says she will make the downfall of Japanese Neo-Imperialism her "hill to die on".

Across Korea, multiple government leaders, actors, and public figures have called on Koreans to boycott Japanese goods.

We interviewed one protester, who told us his name was Won Min-ki. "The Japanese should not rename their military the Imperial Armed Forces because it is a reminder of their troops who raped Korean women and massacred Korean men. They won't even recognize their war crimes, and that's bad enough. But the fact that they're proud of them is--well it makes me sick." Won is a history teacher, and he said he came to the protests because he's spent his life telling kids about how they have to fight for justice against the Japanese government. "I can't be silent when something like this happens. It wouldn't be right."

The sentiment is largely echoed across Korea. As moves towards a more nationalist agenda, things in Asia only stand to get worse. But experts say the impact of the tensions will have an affect everywhere.

The Korean government yet again finds itself in a rough position, and the President will be forced to decide whether she wants to risk standing up to Japan and going it alone, or trying to force her country to bite it's tongue and stay friendly with it's key allies.