The government will hold a "symbolic" ceremony on Liberation Day Friday where civic representatives will duly present a certificate appointing President Lee Jae Myung as president.

The presidential office said Thursday that the “People’s Appointment Ceremony” will be held at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul from 8 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. Friday, the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

KBS will serve as the main broadcaster for the ceremony, which will be attended by some ten-thousand people, including 80 representatives of the public, specially invited citizens, senior government officials and representatives from various sectors.

Lee took office on June 3, a day after he won the presidential elections without an inauguration ceremony, after the ouster of his predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol following his failed martial law attempt on Dec. 3.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Thursday that the ceremony is an occasion to celebrate the birth of a country in which the people hold sovereignty, one that overcame an insurrection and the illegal imposition of martial law, together with the citizens, whom she called the true protagonists of South Korea’s democracy.

Still, the opposition has slammed the ceremony.

Song Eon-seog, floor leader and head of PPP’s emergency committee, said on Thursday that the main opposition party will not take part in President Lee’s so-called “self-coronation.”

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the minor opposition Reform Party, also said he will not attend, saying that the historical significance of Liberation Day celebrations should not be taken advantage of to put up a personal political event.

All former presidents have been invited to the event with the exception of Yoon Suk Yeol, who remains in detention on charges related to the martial law case.

Former conservative Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak have said they will not attend, citing health reasons.