A weekly protest against Japan's wartime sex slavery held every Wednesday near the former Japanese Embassy site in Seoul has marked its one-thousand-600th edition.

The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan held the landmark gathering at noon on Wednesday at the same location.

The first protest was held in January 1992 ahead of a visit to South Korea by then-Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. Its 500th meeting was listed in the Guinness World Records in March 2002 as the world's longest regular protest on a single theme.

In a statement, organizers said the Wednesday demonstration has become a platform for global solidarity to promote peace, human rights and change while also noting that the movement experienced crises in the past due to slanderous attacks.

The council's secretary general called for legislation to protect the victims and stronger punishment for those who deny history and spread false information.

One elderly victim, Lee Yong-soo, urged President Yoon Suk Yeol to keep his promise about seeking a resolution to the issue. On the campaign trail, Yoon met with Lee in 2021 and vowed to deliver an apology from Japan.