Professor Seo, who has been campaigning to stop using the rising sun flag, said on social networking services (SNS) on the 5th that he sent a protest email to the Central Park office, saying, “It is intolerable to use a rising sun flag in Central Park, one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.”
Seo added that he also attached an explanatory video of the flag so that officials could take quick action. “Recently, we have received numerous reports from New York,” he said, “Some of them have told the rickshaw operators directly what the problem is with the flag, but they have not taken action, so they asked me to help them.”
“The flag symbolizes Japan’s imperialism and militarism, and is a war crime flag, the same as the Hakenkreuz in Germany,” Seo said in his email protest. “The rising sun flag in Central Park is a reminder of the horrors of war for many Asian tourists,” he said.
By Jihye Kim [kim.jihye6@joongang.co.kr]
