Birthday event following 4 years and 3 months since December 2018
Embassy of Japan “It is natural to play the national anthem”
Congratulatory remarks by Vice Minister Lee Do-hoon… Rally once morest civic groups
On the followingnoon of the 16th, an attendee wearing a kimono walks into a hotel in Namsan, Seoul, where the birthday celebration of Emperor Naruhito will be held. yunhap news
Japan’s national anthem, ‘Kimigayo’, was played for the first time at the Japanese King’s Birthday event held in Seoul on the 16th, hosted by the Japanese Embassy in Korea, it reported. The Japanese Embassy in Korea held a reception to commemorate the birthday of Emperor Naruhito (February 23) at a hotel in Namsan, Seoul, and invited Korean dignitaries. Sankei played Kimigayo along with the national anthem, the Korean national anthem, at the event. I decided it was an opportunity to get out of the relationship.” Regarding the fact that Kimigayo was not played at events so far, an official from the Japanese embassy said, “We have taken care not to burden the attendees, but there was also an excessive side.” “I decided to play Kimigayo along with the Korean national anthem,” he explained. Controversy is expected over the unreserved flow of the Japanese national anthem, Kimigayo, in the middle of Seoul at a time when Japan has not properly reflected on its past colonial rule. In particular, the line in Kimigayo’s lyrics, ‘until a small pebble becomes a large rock and moss grows in a thousand generations, and in eight thousand generations,’ is criticized for symbolizing Japanese militarism that wishes for an eternal emperor’s reign. It has been 4 years and 3 months since December 2018 that a reception to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor was held in Korea, and it is the first time since Emperor Naruhito ascended the throne in May 2019. At the reception, Vice Minister Lee Do-hoon from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended and delivered a congratulatory speech. On the other hand, civic groups staged a protest in front of the hotel at the venue. Five people, including Hwalbindan CEO Hong Jeong-shik, spread a banner reading “Stop the Emperor’s birthday party in the middle of Seoul” at the hotel’s main gate and sprinkled salt and red pepper powder on it. Senior Reporter Park Byung-soo suh@hani.co.kr
