Activists decry Kishida’s visit, warn against ‘insulting’ deal with Yoon

Activists staged a series of rallies in Seoul on Friday, denouncing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to South Korea and warning against any "insulting" deals during a summit meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon was set to hold talks with Kishida in Seoul on Friday, their final summit before the prime minister steps down in September after three years in office. The two leaders have worked to move South Korea-Japan relations beyond the history of Japan's colonial control of Korea. Last year, Yoon sought to resolve grievances over Japan's wartime mobilization of Koreans for forced labor by compensating victims without Japanese contributions. Activists from progressive civic groups, including South Korea-Japan History Justice and Peace Action, held a press conference in front of the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan district to protest the summit. "It is highly suspicious if (the leaders) are trying to have a clandestine discussion on South Korea-Japan relations," an activist said. "The civil society is deeply concerned about what kind of insulting agreement President Yoon might make this time during Kishida's latest visit," the activist noted. Activists hold a protesting press conference in Seoul's Yongsan district on Sept. 6, 2024, ahead of summit talks between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (Yonhap) Another activist claimed, "Hosting a summit with a prime minister in his final days, with about 10 days left in office, wouldn't be sane," denouncing the summit as a "waste of state funds for (Kishida's) graduation trip." Activists from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the country's largest umbrella labor union, also staged a picketing campaign in central Seoul with messages including "Stop the push for South Korea-Japan military alliance" and "No to Japan Self-Defense Forces' entrance to Korean Peninsula." Activists were also scheduled to stage protest rallies in central Seoul and Yongsan in the evening to protest the summit. Source: Yon hap News Agency