A woman surrounded by South Korean national flags set up to celebrate the 66th Independence Day on August 15, 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. Korea was liberated from Japan's 35-year colonial rule in 1945. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

South Korean environmental activists wearing masks symbolizing the coronavirus attend a prevention campaign as South Koreans take measures to protect themselves against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 30, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. South Korea has called for expanded public participation in social distancing, as the country witnesses a wave of community spread and imported infections leading to a resurgence in new cases of COVID-19. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday, 78 new cases were reported. The total number of infections in the nation tallies at 9,661. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A member of Korean Federation for Environmental Movement in a Santa Claus outfit attaches dumped cigarette butts at a cigarette butt Christmas tree in front of Korea Tobacco & Ginseng Corporation office in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, December 23, 2019. The environmental activist group called for a ban on the use of plastic for cigarette filters as part of efforts to protect the environment from toxic plastic pollution. (Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo)

Visitors wearing face masks walk near the Gwanghwamun, the main gate of the 14th-century Gyeongbok Palace, and one of South Korea's well-known landmarks, in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, February 22, 2020. South Korea on Saturday reported a six-fold jump in viral infections in four days to 346, most of them linked to a church and a hospital in and around the fourth-largest city where schools were closed and worshipers and others told to avoid mass gatherings. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

In a photo taken on April 2, 2020 a staff member feeds a raccoon at the Table A Raccoon Cafe in Seoul. Business has been devastated by the coronavirus outbreak, with South Koreans staying at home under social distancing guidelines, and tourism disappearing. But unlike other firms, animal cafes have to stay open so that staff can look after their stock. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Members of the South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) perform with traditional Korean masks during a rally against the government's Labor Policy in Seoul, South Korea, 06 July 2023. South Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) begen a general strike on a national scale from 03 July against the South Korean government's labor policy and against Japan's disposal of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. (Photo by Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA)

Participants make kimchi during an event where soldiers from the US, South Korea and residents collaborated by making the side dish for needy members of the local community in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, about 38 kilometers north of Seoul, on November 22, 2023. Participants produced 2,500 kilograms of fresh kimchi, which was divided into 250 boxes and distributed to needy households in the local community after the event. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)