The New York City Police Department responded that it “does not have jurisdiction” over the incident of a rickshaw carrying a flag of the Rising Sun in downtown New York City, the United States.
On August 7, Seongshin Women’s University professor Seo Kyung-deok said, “Earlier this year, I sent an e-mail protesting against the New York City rickshaw with the rising sun flag, and received this response.
Last year, there were many sightings of “tourist rickshaws” decorated with the Rising Sun flag in New York City’s Central Park, a world-class tourist attraction, and surrounding tourist attractions.
The City of New York responded to Professor Xu’s e-mail, “We deeply regret any discomfort caused by the ‘Rising Sun Rickshaw. However, unfortunately, this kind of behavior is not under our jurisdiction,” it reiterated.
In response, Professor Xu said, “I did not ask in my protest e-mail to stop the operation of the ‘Rising Sun Rickshaw,’ but only to take steps to remove the flag of the Rising Sun.
Professor Xu said, “Until recently, we have received information about the ‘Rising Sun Rickshaw. We plan to seek cooperation from the New York Police Department (NYPD) in the near future to prevent foreign tourists from misunderstanding the situation,” he clarified. The “Rising Sun Tourist Rickshaw” appeared in New York City’s Central Park last year and was protested by Korean scholars. The scholar who pointed out that the rickshaw is still running around in New York City recently sent an e-mail to the New York City authorities protesting its appearance.
The scholar, Seo Kyung-deok, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, wrote on SNS on March 15, “This rickshaw is not only running around in Central Park, but all over New York City,” and added, “As one of the most popular tourist cities in the world, New York City should be ashamed of the fact that a large Rising Sun flag is running around. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world,” he lamented.
In April last year, Seo Kyung-Duk received information about the “Rising Sun Tourist Rickshaw” in Central Park from an Internet user, and sent an e-mail to the Central Park office protesting that “the Rising Sun flag is a flag symbolizing Japanese imperialism and militarism” and “it reminds many tourists from Asia of the horrors of war. He has sent an e-mail to the Central Park office.
The JoongAng Ilbo
