"‘Sakura is a Japanese Flower’ Anti-Japan Protester Appears at Seokchon Lake"

At one of Seoul's representative cherry blossom spots, a protest took place opposing the cherry blossom festival, claiming that 'Sakura (the Japanese name for cherry blossoms) is a Japanese flower' and criticizing the government and ruling party.

On the 3rd, an online community posted a photo of a man holding flags with phrases such as "Sakura is a Japanese flower" and "Il (日) Pyeondansim Sakura" at Seokchon Lake in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where the cherry blossoms were in full bloom over the past weekend, attracting netizens' attention.

[Photo by Online Community Capture]

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The man in the photo was dressed entirely in white clothing, hat, shoes, and mask, covering his whole body while conducting the protest. The white background with red letters appeared to symbolize the Rising Sun Flag. He wore a sign around his neck that read "The cherry blossom festival is completely crazy" on both the front and back of his body.

The large flag the man held had a composite image of President Yoon Suk-yeol's face at the center of the Rising Sun Flag, which symbolizes Japanese militarism, and below the Rising Sun Flag, the term "Gukjimdang" (a derogatory term for the People Power Party) was also displayed.

Additionally, below it was the phrase "Only for national interest, secretly giving Dokdo generously?" criticizing the government and ruling party by linking recent controversies and anti-Japanese sentiment following the recent Korea-Japan summit.

Among some netizens, reactions expressed discomfort with the protest, saying things like "The flowers are not at fault," "Then should we remove all cherry blossoms and plant Mugunghwa instead?" and "Let's just enjoy the pretty flowers." Meanwhile, there were also eyewitness reports that the same man conducted a solo protest near Yeouido last year wearing the same outfit.

Currently, the cherry trees widely planted in Korea are 'King Cherry Trees' (Wangbeotnamu), and opinions are divided on whether their origin is Korean or Japanese.

In 2018, the National Institute of Forest Science announced research results through genetic analysis showing that the Jeju King Cherry Tree native to Jeju Island and the Japanese King Cherry Tree are different species. However, there are also claims that most of the trees planted at major cherry blossom festival sites in Seoul are of Japanese origin.

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