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Japan repeats territorial claims in 2019 Diplomatic Bluebook

Japan repeats territorial claims in 2019 Diplomatic Bluebook

Posted April. 24, 2019 08:09,   

Updated April. 24, 2019 08:09

한국어

Japan repeated territorial claims to the easternmost islets of Dokdo in the 2019 Diplomatic Bluebook, which was approved at the Cabinet council on Tuesday. In the latest diplomatic paper, Tokyo added sections about the South Korean top court’s recent ruling on compensation for victims of forced labor, Seoul’s decision to dissolve the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation funded by Japan, and controversies over a South Korean destroyer having allegedly locked its fire-control radar on a Japanese patrol plane. It then blamed Seoul for showing “such negative moves,” which have put bilateral relations in an “extremely difficult situation.”

In addition, the Japanese government has removed a phrase from last year’s diplomatic paper that “although there are difficult issues between South Korea and Japan, it is important to appropriately manage these issues while advancing the bilateral relationship in a future oriented way.”

South Korea’s foreign ministry has called in Koichi Mizushima, a diplomatic minister at Japan’s embassy, to lodge a formal complaint about Tokyo’s latest diplomatic report. Kim Yong-gil, the ministry’s Director-General for Northeast Asian Affairs, also expressed regret at the director general-level meeting held in Tokyo Tuesday. South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim In-chul strongly condemned Tokyo for repeating unjustifiable claims on South Korea’s Dokdo islets, demanding that they be promptly retracted.


Na-Ri Shin journari@donga.com