Embassy of Japan, Seoul

The Embassy of Japan in Seoul (Korean: 주 대한민국 일본 대사관; Hanja: 駐 大韓民國 日本 大使館) is the diplomatic mission of Japan in South Korea. It is located in Seoul, South Korea's capital.

Embassy of Japan in Seoul
LocationSeoul
AddressTwin Tree Tower A, 6, Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Coordinates37.5754°N 126.9798°E / 37.5754; 126.9798
AmbassadorKoichi Aiboshi

History

The current embassy was opened on 18 December 1965, following the re-establishment of relations between the two countries, under its first ambassador, Toshikatsu Maeda.[1]

In addition to this embassy, Japan also has two consulates in South Korea: one in Busan and one in Jeju.[2]

Description

The building has been described as "a large, red brick structure surrounded by high, barbed-wire-topped walls and guarded at all hours by dozens of police officers".[3] In 2015, renovation work begun on the embassy's current building, built in 1976.[4]

Demonstrations

The embassy is known as the site of numerous South Korean anti-Japanese demonstrations.[3] In 1974 the embassy was ransacked by angry protesters, during a time of heightened tensions between Japan and South Korea.[5] In 2005 two South Koreans sliced off their fingers during a protest related to the Liancourt Rocks dispute, outside the embassy.[6] In 2012 a South Korean driver rammed his truck against the gate of the embassy, claiming it was done to highlight the Liancourt Rocks dispute.[7]

Comfort women protests
A comfort women rally in front of the embassy, August 2011

Since 1992 the embassy has been a site of weekly Wednesday demonstrations, related to the comfort women issue.[8] The controversial Statue of Peace, related to the comfort women issue, was unveiled in front of the embassy in 2011, causing another lengthy diplomatic row between Japan and South Korea.[9][10] In 2012 a Chinese man threw four Molotov cocktails at the embassy to voice his anger over the comfort women issue.[11] In 2015 an elderly South Korean man set himself on fire during a weekly Wednesday demonstration.[3]

See also

References
  1. "미래희망기구". www.hopetofuture.org. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. "Websites of Japanese Embassies, Consulates and Permanent Missions ｜ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan". www.mofa.go.jp. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  3. "South Korean man lights himself on fire during anti-Japan protest in Seoul". Los Angeles Times. 12 August 2015. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. "Japanese Embassy to Move to Temporary Location". Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  5. Japan and Korea: The Political Dimension. Hoover Press. ISBN 9780817981839.
  6. island, Justin McCurry on Ulleungdo (18 August 2010). "Rocky relations between Japan and South Korea over disputed islands". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  7. "Japan anger after protester rams truck at embassy in South Korea". BBC News. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  8. Barbara Molony; Jennifer Nelson (9 February 2017). Women's Activism and "Second Wave" Feminism: Transnational Histories. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-4742-5053-5.
  9. Padden, Brian. "Weekly Korea Protests Keep Japanese WWII Atrocities Alive". VOA. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  10. Sol Han and James Griffiths. "Why this statue of a young girl caused a diplomatic incident". CNN. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  11. "Chinese man throws firebombs at Japanese Embassy". koreatimes. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
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