A campaign to stop companies’ use of Japan’s Rising Sun Flag

Posted on : 2016-08-24 17:57 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Sungshin Women‘s University professor Seo Kyung-duk seeking to inform companies of the flag’s real meaning
Some of the ten companies confirmed by Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-duk to be using Japan’s Rising Sun Flag in their designs.
Some of the ten companies confirmed by Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-duk to be using Japan’s Rising Sun Flag in their designs.

Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University who is considered an expert in promoting South Korea, has launched a campaign to ask multinational companies to stop using the design of Japan’s controversial Rising Sun Flag

Seo wrote on his Facebook page on Aug. 22 that he had sent emails and letters to more than 10 multinational companies that use the Rising Sun Flag design to inform them of the flag’s meaning and to request that they stop using it.

This year from Mar. 1 Movement Day to Liberation Day on Aug. 15, Seo had been using social media to ask South Koreans around the world to send him information about companies that are using the flag design.

From the tips he received, Seo has confirmed that more than 10 multinational companies (based in places such as the US, Australia, the UK, Italy and France) were making use of the design.

These companies include Skullcandy, a US company selling sound equipment; Byron, a British hamburger chain that sells a hamburger called “Bunzilla”; Billabong, an Australian company selling surfing apparel; Bialetti, an Italian company making coffee machines; and Asics, a Japanese sports apparel brand that is a sponsor of the Tokyo Olympics.

The emails that Seo sent these companies contained an explanation of what the Rising Sun Flag means and why it is offensive, an advertisement that Seo ran in the New York Times calling for people to stop using the design and a video produced in English.

Some of the ten companies confirmed by Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-duk to be using Japan’s Rising Sun Flag in their designs.
Some of the ten companies confirmed by Sungshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-duk to be using Japan’s Rising Sun Flag in their designs.

“Quite a few of these global companies were using the Rising Sun Flag design without fully understanding what it means. Rather than criticizing these companies, I think it’s more important to inform them of the flag’s exact meaning,” Seo said when asked about the goals of the campaign.

Seo added that he still welcomes information about the Rising Sun Flag at his email address (bychoi@ygeneration.co.kr) and plans to keep the campaign going in the future. If necessary, he says, he will arrange for Koreans studying overseas to visit these companies in person.

Since the beginning of this month, Seo said, he has been working with online contributors to compile a list of airlines around the world that label the East Sea as the “Sea of Japan” on their onscreen map.

Seo plans to organize a campaign to ask these airlines to change the label from “Sea of Japan” to “East Sea” before the 19th conference of the International Hydrographic Organization, which takes place in Monaco in April next year.

By Hyun So-eun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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