Man self-immolates near Japan embassy amid Seoul-Tokyo spat

The man’s self-immolation comes as ties between Seoul and Tokyo have plunged to their lowest point in decades since Japan recently tightened export controls of some high-tech materials.

South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies, have been often embroiled in history and territory disputes stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean officials have said the Japanese trade curbs were retaliation for local court rulings that ordered Japanese firms to provide financial compensation to former Korean forced laborers. Japan denies that.

For decades, largely peaceful anti-Japan protests have occurred near the Japanese Embassy. Protests sometimes turned violent, with demonstrators cutting their own fingers or scuffling with police officers.

In 2017, a South Korean Buddhist monk died after setting himself ablaze in protest of Seoul’s 2015 agreement with Tokyo to settle an impasse over Korean women forced into sex slavery for Japanese soldiers during the colonial occupation.