South Korean Man Arrested at Yasukuni Shrine for Raising Banner Reading "Liancourt Rocks Are Our Land" [Video]

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[The Financial News] A South Korean man was arrested after blocking a vehicle carrying an imperial envoy to Japan's Yasukuni Shrine, where the Spring Grand Festival is under way, and then raising a banner that read "Liancourt Rocks Are Our Land."
Local media, including The Asahi Shimbun, reported on the 22nd that Park, a 64-year-old South Korean national, was stopped by shrine officials around 11 a.m. that day at Yasukuni Shrine in Chiyoda City, Tokyo Metropolis, as he tried to hang banners reading "Liancourt Rocks Are Our Land, Tsushima Island Are Our Land" and "Stop worship at Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are enshrined."
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said Park was arrested on the spot on suspicion of obstructing business. According to the police, Park reportedly said, "I did what I wanted to do."
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Video shot at the scene shows Park appearing in front of a vehicle moving inside Yasukuni Shrine and suddenly lifting a banner made of white paper, about 40 cm long and 110 cm wide, with the message written in Japanese. Security staff and other employees then approached him and stopped the act.
Shrine officials said the car Park stopped was carrying an imperial envoy. During the Spring and Autumn Grand Festivals, the imperial envoy is known to visit Yasukuni Shrine to offer tribute.
Park, who was arrested, is a resident of South Korea and is believed to have entered Japan on the 20th. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating his reason for entering the country.
Yasukuni Shrine honors more than 2.46 million soldiers and civilian employees who died in civil wars after Japan opened its ports in 1854 and in the many wars it later waged. The site is widely seen as a symbol of Japanese militarism.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi drew criticism from the South Korean and Chinese governments after offering a ritual gift and payment for the offering on behalf of the "Prime Minister of the Cabinet Sanae Takaichi" on both this day and the previous day.
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y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter