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South Korea denounces Japans claims to Dakdo islets

Iran Press TV

Tue Aug 2, 2016 9:52AM

South Korea has warned Japan over its renewed claims to the disputed Liancourt Rocks Islands, vowing a firm response against any attempt to challenge Seoul's "sovereignty" of the islet chain.

On Tuesday, South Korea's Defense Ministry summoned a military official at the Japanese Embassy to hear Seoul's protest against the "unjustified territorial claims to" Liancourt Rocks, known as Dokdo in Korea, that was made at Japan's annual Defense White Paper on Tuesday.

"Korea's Ministry of National Defense will firmly react against any attempts to infringe upon the sovereignty of the Dokdo Islets, and will seamlessly protect our rights to the Dokdo Islets," the ministry said in a statement.

Separately, the South Korean Foreign Ministry called in the deputy minister of the Japanese Embassy, Maruyama Kouhei, over the issue.

Seoul "strongly condemns [Tokyo] for once again including its unjustified territorial claims to Dokdo, which is clearly our territory in terms of history, geography and international law," said the ministry spokesman, Cho June-hyuck.

Cho urged Tokyo to withdraw the claims immediately to guarantee "mutual trust" in their future relations.

"The Japanese government should immediately stop its useless claims to Dokdo, and face up squarely to the truth of history and put all efforts into the relations between South Korea and Japan towards a new future based upon trust," he added.

The islets, which are called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo, are located in waters between Korea and Japan. They are believed to be rich in natural gas and other resources.

Seoul, which has controlled the islands since the end of the Japanese colonial rule after World War II, denounces Japan's claims as stemming from its colonial past. Japan occupied large parts of China and the Korean Peninsula during World War II.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo, which have long been strained over the war history, improved since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met South Korean President Park Geun-hye last month in Seoul.