South Korea urges Japan to drop its repeated claims to Dokdo in defence white paper

Seoul, July 12 (IANS) South Korea strongly protested Friday after Japan restated its territorial claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo as the foreign and defence ministries called in senior officials at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to lodge a complaint.

The move came as the Japanese government adopted the 2024 defence white paper at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day, in which it reiterated the argument that Takeshima, the Japanese name for Dokdo, is part of its own territory and the issue over the territorial claims to the set of outcroppings “still remains unresolved”, reports Xinhua news agency.

Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between the two neighbours, as Tokyo continues to make the sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.

South Korea maintains a small police detachment on the islets, effectively controlling them.

Kim Sang-hoon, Director General for Asian and Pacific Affairs, called in Taisuke Mibae, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to protest against Tokyo continuing to make false claims about Dokdo.

Earlier in the day, the Defence Ministry summoned a defence attache from the embassy to protest Japan’s move and called for the immediate correction and future prevention of such actions.

“We strongly protest against Japan’s unjust claims to Dokdo, which is clearly our inherent territory historically, geographically and by