By Kim Eun-young and Lee Jihae

A professor in Seoul has released a video in Japanese opposing the use of the "rising sun" flag at next year's Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Seo Kyeong-deok of Sungshin Women's University posted on Nov. 14 the video "FIFA takes actions but why not (the) IOC (International Olympic Committee)?"

The video is a response to Korean-language materials from the Japanese Foreign Ministry that claim no problem with the use of the flag. The English-language version of Seo's video was posted on Oct. 3 and as of Nov. 15, had garnered about 16,000 views, 2,300 likes and 990 comments.

Approximately three minutes long, the video said the rising sun flag was used as a symbol of Japanese imperialism and militarism, adding that FIFA, soccer's world governing body, also deleted last year the flag from its official social media and promotional videos, photos or scenes after worldwide outcry from fans.

The video also said the Asian Football Confederation in 2017 fined a group of Japanese fans USD 15,000 for using the flag in a Champions League game.

Paragraph 2 in Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter stipulates that the IOC prohibits all forms of political propaganda, it added, and the IOC would be "rubbing salt in the wounds" of Asian countries that suffered under Japanese imperialism if no action was taken against the flag's use, and that such inaction would violate the Olympic spirit.

The video urged the IOC to "globally proclaim a ban on the public display of the rising sun flag as soon as possible and protect the values and spirit of the Olympic Games."

The link for the video in English is below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=63&v=mBeSQgjNb88

The link for the video in Japanese is below:
https://youtu.be/TGRuwKEzoVQ

eykim86@korea.kr