The rainbow flag is displayed in support of LGBTQ+ rights at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, June 7, 2022. The embassy told The Korea Times recently that it will no longer fly flags affiliated with liberal activism. Newsis

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul has vowed not to display flags affiliated with liberal activism such as a rainbow flag representing sexual minorities — a shift in its stance on the issue under President Donald Trump.

Asked whether the embassy would continue its practice under Trump of displaying the Pride flag at the mission building here in support of LGBTQ+ rights during this year's Pride Month, its representative said it won't.

"Per the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024, only the United States flag is authorized to be flown or otherwise publicly displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad," the embassy said in a statement recently sent to The Korea Times.

This comes after U.S. media reports that Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an order to ban government facilities from displaying flags affiliated with left-wing movements including the Pride and Black Lives Matter flags that flew during the previous Joe Biden administration.

Any State Department employee who violates the new policy would face disciplinary action, "including termination of employment or contract, or reassignment to their home agency" according to a report by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news website.

In the latest display of such flags in Korea in 2022, the embassy flew a big rainbow flag on its building in June, a month during which many LGBTQ-themed events take place. Speaking to The Korea Times at the time, an official said "advancing human rights for LGBTQI+ people is a stated foreign policy priority for the Biden administration" and it will "continue to openly support the human rights of LGBTQI+ individuals."

That practice started in 2017 when Mark Lippert was the U.S. ambassador during the Barack Obama administration. It continued into the first Trump administration, but the State Department ordered the Pride flag removed from display in 2019, and again in 2020 along with a Black Lives Matter banner.

The embassy's open support of the contentious subjects here drew criticism, mostly from right-wing activists and Christian groups, traditionally the most ardent supporters of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

In Korea, a largely socially conservative nation, very few politicians support LGBTQ rights openly. Moon Jae-in, the former president of the liberal opposition Democratic Party of Korea and a former human rights lawyer, said during a 2017 TV presidential contenders debate that he "does not like" homosexuality when pressed to answer a question on the subject.