Japan and WW2: S Korea protests hit WW2 anniversary

[bananas]

Source: BBC



Protesters in South Korea have burned anti-Japan placards outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, on the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War Two.

The surrender freed the then-unified Korea from 35 years of occupation but some believe Japan has failed to properly atone for its actions during the war.

In North Korea, clocks have been put back by 30 minutes, so the country does not remain on 'Tokyo time'.

Stephen Evans reports from Seoul.

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33945245

[bananas]

1. BBC News video of the protests

[davidpdx]

3. Thank you for posting that bananas

There is a lot of anti-Japanese sentiment especially among the older people. Freedom of speech in South Korea is not the same as in the United States. It is more constraining and you have to watch what you say or do to a certain degree. Which is why on the video the police were stepping in when the protesters lit things on fire or were hitting them with axes. When the South Korean Police send out the riot squad, the protesters are usually outnumbered and if things get out of hand it won't end well.

[Chakab]

2. That's very impolite. They'd do a better job of getting their point across if they just shut up

about it.

[davidpdx]

5. Why should they shut up?

Japan continues to revise their textbooks to edit out the atrocities of their country during WWII including the brutal occupation of several countries, has failed to apologize for the use of comfort women from other countries (Korea being one of them), and their leaders continue to visit a war shrine in which convicted war criminals are buried.

You really might want to educate yourself on the issue before making such a blatantly stupid comment.

[Chakab]

6. All of that yelling and screaming makes the protesters look silly and, worst of all, it makes

people uncomfortable and inconveniences them when they're just trying to go about their business.

How can the protesters expect anybody to take their grievances seriously if they don't complain calmly and politely without interrupting anybody, and most importantly, with the permission of anybody who might be upset about what they have to say?

Honestly, don't these people have any consideration for the public workers who'll have to clean up that mess?

[davidpdx]

7. It's a part of having free speech

Those people feel strongly about what has been done to their people. They don't need permission and their complaints have been ignored for years. Their complaint isn't toward the Korean Government it is toward the Japanese Government.

As for people being uncomfortable or inconvenienced everyone here knows protests occur on that day because it is August 15th, Korean Independence Day. Korean Independence Day is a holiday just as ours is in the US.