The government is set to hold a “symbolic” ceremony on Liberation Day evening, where 80 civic representatives will duly present a certificate appointing President Lee Jae Myung as president.

According to the presidential office, some ten-thousand people will attend the “People’s Appointment Ceremony” at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul at 8 p.m. Friday, on the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

Lee took office with no inauguration ceremony on June 4, a day after he won the presidential election in the wake of his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law attempt on December 3 and subsequent ouster.

Still, opposition parties have slammed the event, with the People Power Party declining to take part in what it called President Lee’s “self-coronation” and the minor opposition Reform Party saying the historical significance of Liberation Day celebrations should not be taken advantage of.

All former presidents have been invited to the event with the exception of Yoon, who remains in detention on charges related to the martial law case, but former conservative Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak have said they will not attend, citing health reasons.