As President Lee Jae-myung prepares to visit Japan and the United States this weekend, civic groups have held about 30 anti-U.S. and anti-Japan rallies in downtown Seoul since August.
According to the presidential office on the 22nd, President Lee will visit Japan for two days from the 23rd to the 24th for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. He will then visit the United States for three days from the 24th to the 26th for a summit with President Trump.
President Lee is expected to conclude tariff negotiations with President Trump and discuss issues such as the strategic flexibility of U.S. military forces in South Korea and the defense cost-sharing. This will be the first time that Korea's president visits Japan instead of the United States for bilateral summit diplomacy after taking office. Analysts suggest this is intended to demonstrate President Lee's commitment to strengthening trilateral cooperation among Korea, the U.S., and Japan.
On the 30th of last month (local time), President Trump announced that the tariff negotiations applicable to Korea had been concluded and stated that he would hold a Korea-U.S. summit. Civic groups have been holding anti-U.S. and anti-Japan rallies about 30 times since then.
On this day, the group 'People Opening Peace and Unification' will hold a rally urging the suspension of Korea-U.S. military exercises in front of the War Memorial near the presidential office in Yongsan. In the evening, the National Sovereignty Party will host a 'Candlelight Cultural Festival Urging the Suspension of Korea-U.S. Joint Exercises' in Gwanghwamun.
Rallies with anti-U.S. and anti-Japan sentiments will also be held on the 23rd, the day President Lee departs for Japan. The 'Candlelight Action' group will hold the '154th Candlelight March' rally at 6 p.m. in Gwanghwamun. The rally slogans include 'Economic plunderer, international gangster Trump, leave the planet' and 'Japan, apologize and compensate for colonial rule.'
'Candlelight Action' has been holding weekly Saturday rallies calling for the resignation of former President Yoon Suk-yeol since August 2022, early in his administration. Although a new government has been established following impeachment and early elections, the rallies continue. Professor Kim Min-woong, brother of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, serves as the co-representative.
This group also held a rally in Jongno and the City Hall area on the 16th, with 10,000 participants reported to the police. Rally participants marched holding placards that called for the suspension of Korea-U.S. joint military exercises.
'Candlelight Action' asserted in a statement on the 14th that 'President Lee should publicly demand an apology and compensation from Japan for victims of historical crimes, including 'comfort women' and forced laborers' at the Korea-Japan summit. In contrast, President Lee noted in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun that he would uphold previous agreements by past governments on the 'comfort women' and forced labor issues.
In addition, the 'Democratic Student Council for Independent Unification' has been holding six rallies called 'Actions to Break the Korea-U.S. Alliance' since the beginning of this month. The 'Student Autonomous Peace Practice Group' held rallies on the 13th against 'Trump's economic plunder,' 'Anti-Trump signature campaign,' and 'Opposition to the Korea-U.S. summit' at four locations, and on the 14th, they held 'Condemnation of U.S. government economic plunder' rallies at five locations. The Progressive Party, which holds four seats in the National Assembly, held a rally condemning the U.S. government in Gwanghwamun on the 13th.