The civic organization "Citizens' Action to Denounce Abe for Distorting History, Invading Economy and Threatening Peace" held a news conference before Chongwadae to condemn the authorities' decision on the GSOMIA renewal as an act of throwing a wet blanket over the anti-Japanese will of the south Korean people.

University students' organizations held a meeting before the building of the Foreign Ministry in protest against the authorities' decision.

They said that it was also an act of swimming against the trend of peace in the Korean Peninsula to renew the agreement while ignoring the desire of the participants in the candlelight struggle.