However, the flag is also associated with Imperial Japan, which waged war in the Pacific during World War II, and with Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

The flag was also the symbol used by Japan's Imperial Army and Navy during World War II and is a painful reminder for many South Koreans of Japan's rule in the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Japan considers the “rising sun” flag part of its history. But some in the Koreas, China and other Asian countries say the flag is a reminder of Japan’s wartime ...

To Japan, the Rising Sun flag is part of its culture. The flag was used by the Imperial Japanese Army, and the country’s navy and defense forces still use the flag to this day.

The Rising Sun flag is a reminder of the Japanese empire's sweeping colonization and occupation of territories across the Asia-Pacific to many of the region's inhabitants.