80 year old man sets himself ablaze during protest

Man ablaze during protest

A man in his 80s has set himself ablaze on Wednesday during a rally calling for Japan to apologize for forcing Korean women to work in military brothels during World War II.

The protest outside the Japanese Embassy is being held ahead of an Aug. 15 anniversary marking 70 years since the end of Japan's colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula. 

Activists since 1992 have organized weekly protests in front of the Embassy

Wednesday's protest was however larger than normal, with over 1,500 demonstrators, including three of the 47 known surviving Korean "comfort women," as they were called by Japan.

Bystanders covered the man with protest banners to put out the flames and paramedics took him to hospital. A small glass bottle that reeked of gasoline was found at the scene.

He reportedly suffered third-degree burns on his face, neck, upper body and arms and was relying on a breathing machine after his lungs deteriorated 

"It appears he tried to kill himself by setting himself on fire" a firefighter said.

Many South Koreans harbor deep resentment against Japan over its role in the 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean peninsula, having forced hundreds of thousands to fight as front-line soldiers, work in slave-labor conditions or serve as prostitutes in brothels operated by the Japanese military during the war.