The protesters, including women used as sex slaves by Japanese troops during World War II, gathered at Japan's embassy in Seoul. -- PHOTO: AP
SEOUL - ABOUT 40 South Korean activists on Thursday staged anti-Japanese rallies on the eve of a visit by the country's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, witnesses said.
TIES have often been prickly due to historical and territorial disputes.
Seoul says Tokyo's school history textbooks whitewash past wrongdoings. The two countries each claim rocky islets known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.
The protesters, including women used as sex slaves by Japanese troops during World War II, gathered at Japan's embassy in Seoul.
They demanded Tokyo apologise and pay compensation for its colonial rule over the Korean peninsula from 1910-1945.
Several blocks away, seven people tore down Japanese flags in a protest at a downtown park. Police stopped them from burning the flags.
Mr Hatoyama arrives on Friday for a summit with President Lee Myung-Bak to discuss ways to improve ties and address North Korea's nuclear weapons threat.
Mr Lee has expressed hopes that relations will improve further under Mr Hatoyama, who has pledged not to visit a controversial Tokyo war shrine. -- AFP