Man sets himself on fire at rally in South Korea

Kim Solar-min, who was amongst a number of individuals who rushed over to assist put out the flames, stated he did not discover the person earlier than he set himself ablaze on a flower mattress close to the rally.

The incident come ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe making a statement at the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the war.

Protests on the so-called “comfort women” issue are held once a month outside the embassy, but Wednesday’s event was much larger than usual due to the looming anniversary, and three of the 47 surviving South Korean comfort women took part. Lumps of burned cotton and a small glass bottle that reeked of gasoline were found at the scene.

His precise condition was not known.

The 80-year-old sustained third-degree burns on his upper body and arms and was breathing when he was carried into an emergency vehicle, said rescue worker Woo Kyung-suk.

Police had initially said the man appeared to have avoided life-threatening injuries. In May this year, a 56-year-old disabled man died after setting himself on fire in a dispute with his landlord, and a 29-year-old killed himself the same way in March after his girlfriend rejected a marriage proposal.

Yoon Michigan Hyang, an activist for the former comfort women, said Choi occasionally joined the weekly rally, and was also an activist for Koreans forced to work by Japanese companies during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the peninsula.

Many South Koreans harbor deep resentment towards Japan over its colonial occupation.

Such sentiment has strengthened in recent years over what South Koreans feel are attempts by Japan to downplay its wartime conduct, as well as Tokyo’s territorial claims to a set of small islets occupied by South Korea. Scuffles with police are common and demonstrators have severed their own fingers or hurled excrement at the embassy in the past.