Civic and social groups in South Korea are protesting Japan's decision to exclude South Korea from its whitelist of preferred trade partners.

A coalition of some 600 civic organizations held a press conference outside the Embassy of Japan in Seoul on Friday, after Tokyo announced its whitelist decision, and denounced the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. 

Calling Japan a perpetrator of war crimes, they demanded an end to threats against South Korea and the immediate withdrawal of the "retaliatory trade measures."

The group said it will hold a candlelight cultural event on Saturday near a statue erected outside the Japanese embassy for victims of Tokyo's wartime sexual enslavement, and continue to protest Japan's economic retaliation.