The rising sun flag appeared without fail in the 2023 World 메이저놀이터 Baseball Classic (WBC) Korea vs. Japan match.
Tokyo Dome, Japan, on the evening of the 10th, where the WBC Round 1 Group B match between Korea and Japan took place. A Japanese man at the top of the outfield stands was captured wearing a hat with the Rising Sun Flag on it and holding the Rising Sun Flag. On this day, there were events such as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida throwing a special first pitch.
An official from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) confirmed this fact and immediately filed an official complaint to the tournament organizing committee (WBCI). Prior to the tournament, the KBO had requested the WBCI and the Japan Round Organizing Committee to stop cheering for the Rising Sun Flag. However, despite these measures, the Rising Sun Flag reappeared.
In the Olympics led by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or the World Cup hosted by the International Football Federation (FIFA), phrases or actions with political intentions are strictly prohibited. Cheering for the Rising Sun Flag, a symbol of Japanese militarism, is also sanctioned.
On the other hand, the WBC is a tournament led by the US Major League Secretariat and the players union. There is no special provision to sanction the Rising Sun Flag cheering. Some Japanese media even reported that there is no problem in cheering for the Rising Sun Flag at the WBC ahead of the Korea-Japan match.
Seo Kyung-deok, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University who has been carrying out the ‘Rising Sun Flag Eradication Campaign’, announced on the 11th that he immediately sent a protest mail to the WBC when this happened.
In this protest email, Professor Seo explained, “The Rising Sun Flag is a flag symbolizing Japanese imperialism and militarism.”
He also added, “Cheering for the rising sun flag is like denying the history of wars of aggression committed by Japan in the past.”
In addition, “FIFA, which acknowledged this, immediately stopped the Japanese cheering squad from cheering for the Rising Sun Flag at the last World Cup in Qatar.”
In this protest email, Professor Seo attached a video about the Rising Sun Flag so that the WBC can easily understand it.
He said, “We plan to send data on this situation to foreign reporters soon to inform the world of the problems of cheering for the Rising Sun Flag.”
Professor Suh Kyung-duk’s team is making many achievements in eradicating the rising sun flag worldwide, such as changing the Rising Sun Flag pattern used by world-class institutions and global companies into a continuous protest.