▲ Activist Park Seok-woon (C) speaks during a press conference in front of the National Assembly, in this file photo from March 7, 2023, calling for Japan's apology and compensation for its forced World War II mobilization of South Koreans for labor. (Yonhap)

activist-Japan entry ban

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

SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) -- 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 against Japan's colonial rule at the time of the Korean Peninsula.

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

Earlier February, singer Kim Chang-yeol was denied entry to Japan while on a trip aimed at filming a local event promoting Japan's territorial claim to 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.

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