[Seoul Kyodo]South Korean civic groups and opposition parties held a large-scale rally in the center of Seoul on the 25th to criticize President Yoon Seok-yeol’s diplomacy with Japan. According to organizer estimates, about 20,000 people attended, twice as many as the previous Saturday. At the Japan-South Korea summit meeting, it was confirmed that a South Korean foundation would take over the payment of compensation from Japanese companies over the former forced labor lawsuit, but criticism has not abated in South Korea.
Citizens’ group representatives argued that the “normalization” of bilateral relations, which is said to be the result of the summit, “covers up the truth of history and is the path to the past that Japanese imperialism desires.” “The citizens of South Korea and Japan, who have stood in solidarity for democracy, human rights and peace, will continue to work hand in hand to fight injustice,” he said.