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S. Korean activist denied entry into Japan ahead of Independence Movement Day

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By Yonhap
  • Published Mar 1, 2026 12:20 pm KST
  • Updated Mar 1, 2026 1:29 pm KST
Park Seok-woon, co-chair of the Korea Alliance For Progressive Movement, submits a protest letter after holding a press conference in front of the Ministry of Foreign affairs in central Seoul, July 31, 2024, denouncing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration for allowing the Japan's Sado mines to be enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage despite Koreans having been forced into labor at the mines under the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule. Korea Times photo by Shin Yong-ju

Park Seok-woon, co-chair of the Korea Alliance For Progressive Movement, submits a protest letter after holding a press conference in front of the Ministry of Foreign affairs in central Seoul, July 31, 2024, denouncing the Yoon Suk Yeol administration for allowing the Japan's Sado mines to be enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage despite Koreans having been forced into labor at the mines under the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule. Korea Times photo by Shin Yong-ju

A high-profile South Korean progressive activist was denied entry to Japan at Haneda Airport last week, marking the second denial last month for well-known South Koreans active on Japan-related issues, sources said Sunday.

Park Seok-woon, co-chair of the Korea Alliance For Progressive Movement, arrived at Haneda Airport late Friday but was denied entry to Japan and boarded a flight back to South Korea the next day, the sources said.

Park, who led public rallies for progressive causes, including protests against the release of treated radioactive wastewater from Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, was traveling to Japan for a lecture marking Korea's March 1 Independence Movement Day.

The national holiday commemorates a nationwide movement held March 1, 1919, to protest Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula at that time.

In a phone call with Yonhap News Agency, Park said Japanese authorities cited his past court trial on illegal rally charges when denying him entry to the country.

In early February, singer Kim Chang-yeol was denied entry to Japan while on a trip to film a local event promoting Japan's territorial claim to the Dokdo islets.

Kim currently serves as an honorary ambassador for a group advocating for South Korea's territorial sovereignty over Dokdo, South Korea's easternmost islets.

Park said he had traveled to Japan without restrictions until recently, accusing Japan of imposing retaliatory measures against people involved in historic issues between South Korea and Japan.