Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
IOC to decide whether to ban Rising Sun flag 'individually'
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stands behind a Rising Sun flag during a review of Self-Defense Force troops at an annual ceremony in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, October 2013. Reuters
By Jung Min-ho
By Jung Min-ho
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it will look at whether to ban Japan's Rising Sun flag ― a symbol of the country's wartime aggression ― from being displayed at 2020 Tokyo Olympics venues “on a case by case basis.”
“Sports stadiums should be free of any political demonstration,” IOC's media relations team told The Korea Times in an email Wednesday. “If such cases arise, we look at them on a case by case basis.”
However, the IOC did not specifically say whether everyone who flies a Rising Sun flag at the venues of the international sporting event, which will be held from July 24 to Aug. 9, should be regarded as violators of that standard.
But, apparently, the Korean government considers such an act as an inappropriate, offensive political demonstration.
On Tuesday, Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympics and Paralympic Games to revoke its decision to allow displays of the flag at Olympic venues.
Ministry spokesman Kim In-chul said: “Japan must well be aware that its neighboring nations perceive the Rising Sun flag as the symbol of its militarism and imperialism. Japan needs to humbly face that part of its history.”
On the same day, Rep. An Min-suk, the chief of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, also called the organizing committee's decision “unacceptable.”
“Just like the hakenkreuz (swastika) is perceived by many Europeans as a symbol of Nazi Germany, the Rising Sun flag is a symbol of intolerable evil to people in Asia, including Korea,” An said.
“If Rising Sun flags are allowed at the Tokyo Olympics, it will contravene the Olympic spirit of promoting peace through sports … The Olympics should not be a platform for the revival of Japan's imperialism.”
Since its defeat in WWII, Germany has strictly banned the use of any patterns or designs that invoke the swastika flag, a symbol of Hitler's Nazi era.
Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, a set of rules and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games, states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
further governs the behavior of National Olympic Committees. It states that they must “maintain harmonious relations with state authorities, while respecting the principle of autonomy as set out in the Olympic Charter.”