Korean Americans run in N.Y. to ban Rising Sun Flag

Korean-Americans ran a 48-kilometer route through New York and Jersey City, Sunday, in the hope of banning the Rising Sun Flag.

According to Dongponews.net, a Korean-language news website for overseas Korean communities, and Yonhap news agency, the Citizens Against War Criminal Symbolism, a New York-based group of Korean-Americans, held the marathon Sunday morning.

Runners pose around a memorial in memory of comfort women in New York, Sunday, before starting a marathon organized by the Citizens Against War Criminal Symbolism in hopes of banning the Rising Sun Flag, a symbol of Japanese militarism. (Yonhap News)

The race started in front of the plaque near a library on Palisades Park, New Jersey, that commemorates women drafted as sex slaves for the Japanese army during World War II. Runners then went past the Consulate-General of Japan in New York and the U.N. headquarters, before completing the circuit.

The event was partly sponsored by VANK, or Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, a non-government South Korean organization of self-styled cyber diplomats who work to promote Korea overseas and also attempt to correct international misrepresentations of Korea.

About 10 people participated in the marathon. Among them was 67-year-old Kwon Yi-joo, the first Asian American who completed a coast-to-coast run in 2010 to raise awareness of diabetes, which he himself suffers from.

All runners wore uniforms with the slogan, "Ban War Criminal Flag in all Olympic Games," written to convey the message that what they call an "Asian Nazi banner" should never be used again.

The Rising Sun Flag was used as the war flag of the Imperial Japanese Army and the ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy until the end of World War II.

In front of Consulate-General of Japan, they read a statement demanding an official apology and compensation from the Japanese government for drafting comfort women. They also stopped at the U.N. headquarters to chant calls for a ban of the Rising Sun Flag.

By Chun Sung-woo ( swchun@heraldcorp.com)< ⓒKoreaHerald(www.koreaherald.com)무단전재 및 재배포 금지 >