South Korean police detained a group of anti-Japanese protesters in Seoul Friday after stopping their attempt to hold a mock funeral for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Hundreds of riot police surrounded about 30 demonstrators who carried an empty coffin and Mr. Koizumi's picture to a park near the Japanese embassy for the funeral.
Earlier, the same group burned a coffin and an effigy of Japanese Ambassador Toshiyuki Takano in front of his residence. They also fired flaming arrows, which failed to reach the house.
Anti-Japanese sentiment runs high in South Korea over territorial claims both countries make to a group of small islands controlled by South Korea, and over Tokyo's approval of history books that critics say downplay Japan's wartime atrocities.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP.