Text Fwd: S. Korea Raps Japan's Claim to Dokdo

Korea Times

07-17-2009 19:46
S. Korea Raps Japan's Claim to Dokdo

By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter

The Ministry of National Defense demanded Friday that Japan withdraw its sovereignty claim over the islets of Dokdo in Japan's annual defense white paper.

It is the fifth consecutive time that the document has referred to Dokdo, effectively controlled by South Korea, as Japanese territory.

Seoul filed a strong complaint with Tokyo's description of Dokdo as its territory, the ministry said in a statement. ``We demand the Japanese government take immediate action to rectify the description.''

The ministry made it clear that Japan's repeated claim to the islets in the East Sea would hinder efforts by the two governments to develop a ``future-oriented strategic partnership.''

Earlier in the day, the Japanese government approved the white paper in which Dokdo is defined as part of Japanese territory.

In the document, Japan said that issues regarding Japanese territory — the Kuril Islands and Takeshima, the Japanese name for Dokdo — remain unresolved.

The move comes less than a month after a summit between President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in Tokyo.

The, the two leaders pledged that they would make efforts to increase bilateral cooperation and economic ties.

Located roughly halfway between South Korea and Japan in the East Sea, the rocky outcrop was annexed by Japan along with the Korean Peninsula in 1910, but Tokyo claims territorial rights to the islets were declared five years before the start of Japanese colonial rule between 1910 and 1945.

Seoul has stationed a 50-strong police contingent on Dokdo since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War to reinforce ownership.

gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr