South Korea on Tuesday lodged a strong diplomatic protest after Japan renewed its territorial claim to the disputed islets known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan in its latest annual defence white paper.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry summoned Kazuo Tsuchiya, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to formally protest the move.
“The government strongly protests Japan’s repeated, unjust territorial claim to Dokdo and calls for its immediate withdrawal,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said, describing the islets as “indisputably” South Korean territory based on history, geography and international law.
South Korea’s Defence Ministry also summoned Japan’s military attaché to lodge a separate protest.
Japan reaffirmed its claim in its annual defence white paper, approved by the Cabinet earlier on Tuesday.
The sovereignty dispute over the islets has long been a source of tension between the two neighbours, with Japan continuing to assert its claim in official policy documents, public statements and school textbooks.
South Korea maintains a permanent police presence on the islets and exercises effective administrative control over them.