This photo provided by Seoul’s foreign ministry shows Dokdo, a set of South Korea-controlled rocky islets in the East Sea.
SEOUL/TOKYO, April 11 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea lodged a strong protest against Japan on Tuesday over Tokyo’s renewed territorial claim to Dokdo, a set of rocky islets in the East Sea, in its latest annual diplomatic book.
The claim, strongly disputed by South Korea that has long maintained effective control of Dokdo with the permanent stationing of security personnel there, was included in the 2023 Diplomatic Bluebook that was reported to the Cabinet by Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.
The Bluebook stated that South Korea has continued an “illegal occupation” of the area with no legal basis.
Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for South Korea’s foreign ministry, said Seoul “strongly protests Japan’s repeated unjust claims of sovereignty over Dokdo, which is of our sovereign territory historically, geographically and under international law.”
He added Japan should “clearly recognize” that repeating such claims does not contribute to the building of a future-oriented relationship between Seoul and Tokyo.
The ministry called in Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to deliver a formal protest message.
Japan has also omitted in the Bluebook its expressed pledge to honor the “historical perceptions of previous governments” in its description of the administration’s handling of the issue of wartime forced labor of South Koreans.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the pledge last month after a holding summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Tokyo.
It came as Seoul announced a plan to compensate South Korean victims of brutal forced labor during World War II through a domestic foundation without the involvement of Japanese firms.
The Bluebook stated that Japan, since the launch of the Yoon administration in May of last year, sought an early resolution to the forced labor issue through consultations between diplomatic channels and meetings between the two countries’ leaders.
(Yonhap)
