South Korea formally asked the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday to ban any use of Japan’s “Rising Sun” flag at next year’s Tokyo Olympics, comparing it to the Nazi swastika, in the latest salvo in a bitter dispute between the U.S. allies. The flag was used by Japan for centuries and it was originated from the Japanese army and navy during World War II. It represents the period of colonial rule of the Korean Peninsular from 1910 to 1945. It shows a rising red sun with rays of light beaming outward. It is distinct from Japan’s national flag, a simple crimson disk on a white background, which the country’s Olympic team will carry.
Recently, Japan and the Republic of Korea had a lot of disputes. One of the topics of those disputes were about Japanese Military Sex Slaves that happened at the period of World War 2. The government of South Korea claimed that Korea had not received sincere and serious apologies from the government of Japan, while Japan claims that they had enough conclusions. Since South Korea was continuously asking for a better apology, Japan showed disappointment and started to retaliate on Korea using economic power. Japan started to restrict exports on three crucial materials for Korean semiconductor.