South Korea has decided to remove a set of banners from the Athletes Village in Tokyo at the request of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The banners, hung on the balconies of South Korean athletes' rooms, read "I still have support from 50 million Korean people," which was a nod to the famous words by Admiral Yi Sun-sin who told the king he still had 12 battleships left before taking on Japan in a naval battle in 1597.

Some Japanese media saw the banners as politically motivated while far right groups also protested the matter with some staging protests outside the village holding the controversial Rising Sun Flag, formerly used by the Imperial Japanese Army.

In a press release Saturday, the Korean Olympic Committee said the IOC has requested the banners be taken down as the message evokes the image of a general going into battle.

The IOC cited a potential violation of an article in the Olympic Charter that states, "No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted at any Olympic sites, venues or other areas."

The Korean Olympic Committee then raised objections to the IOC regarding the use of the Rising Sun Flag, after which the two sides agreed to take down the banners and also apply the Olympic Charter to the use of the Japanese imperial flag.