A weekly rally protesting Japan's wartime sex slavery was held without incident on Wednesday, in a first such gathering since a human rights watchdog issued a recommendation to the police to actively safeguard the protest.

The event's organizer, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, hosted the one-thousand-527th rally at around noon near a former Japanese embassy site in downtown Seoul.

The council's board chairman Lee Na-young welcomed the National Human Rights Commission's advisory, and asked Jongno Police Station to block other protesters aiming to sabotage their Wednesday event.

A conservative group was also present nearby at a similar time holding placards that called for the disbandment of the council.

Police using buses and manpower came between the two sides to separate them. They also broadcast announcements warning that illegal acts can be subject to criminal punishment. 

The human rights commission had issued the advisory for police protection on Friday, calling the Wednesday rally a globally unprecedented campaign.