Russia’s Embassy in Seoul on February 24 took down a “Victory will be ours” banner in the colors of the Russian flag from the exterior wall of its compound, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry had expressed displeasure with the banner, saying the slogan—used during World War II—is now read as a reference to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The embassy also relocated an event planned for Defender of the Fatherland Day, marked in Russia on February 23. The celebration had been scheduled to take place outdoors in front of the embassy in central Seoul but was moved inside at the last minute.
On February 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Korean activists and several Russians who joined them staged a series of one-person protests outside the embassy. The head of a local civic group held a sign that read “Stop Putin. Stop the war,” while chanting “Take down that ugly poster” and “The Republic of Korea is against war.”
