South Korea lodged protest on Friday with Japan over Tokyo mentioning in its annual defense papers the disputed Dokdo islands as a Japanese territory amid escalating tensions between the Asian neighbors, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said
TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th September, 2019) South Korea lodged protest on Friday with Japan over Tokyo mentioning in its annual defense papers the disputed Dokdo islands as a Japanese territory amid escalating tensions between the Asian neighbors, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said.
Earlier in the day, Japan published its annual Defense White Paper, in which Tokyo for the 15th consecutive year laid sovereignty claims to the disputed islands in the Sea of Japan.
"[South Korea] strongly protests the Japanese government's repeated unfounded claims to the Dokdo islands," the Foreign Ministry said, as cited by the Kyodo news outlet.
On August 31, Tokyo lodged protest with Seoul after a group of South Korean lawmakers visited the disputed islands.
The Liancourt Rocks islands, referred to as the Dokdo islands by South Korea and Takeshima by Japan, lie almost equidistant from the two states. They have been administered by Seoul since 1954, a claim Japan disputes. Tokyo has suggested that Seoul should present the issue to the International Court of Justice. However, South Korea believes there is no dispute over the islands and considers them to be its territory historically, geographically and legally.
The relationship between Japan and South Korea dampened last year after the latter's top court ruled that a number of Japanese companies could be sued for their use of forced labor during World War II. Japan has protested the decision, claiming that the 1965 agreement between the two countries had resolved the issue of damages once and for all. Since then, the two sides have engaged in several mutual trade restrictions, fueling tensions even further.
