Rising Sun Flag
South Korean campaigns against the Rising Sun Flag began in earnest in 2011 when South Korean footballer Ki Sung-yueng was accused of making a racist gesture, which he defended, claiming he was annoyed at having seen a Rising Sun Flag in the stadium. In 2012, South Koreans who disapproved of the flag began to refer to it as a "war crime flag". According to political scientist Kan Kimura, in 2012, following Ki Sung-yeong's remarks, Koreans living in New York formed a political group "The Citizens Against War Criminal Symbolism" and started a campaign to equate the Rising Sun Flag with the Nazi swastika and ban it. The following year at the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, a banner with a slogan about historical issues with Japan appeared on the Korean cheering squad. As these events were often reported in the Korean media, an international political movement among Koreans to equate the Rising Sun Flag with that of the Nazi swastika and to prohibit it intensified.