S. Korea protests against Japan's new defense white paper

Asian Political News, August 8, 2005

SEOUL, Aug. 3 Kyodo

South Korea on Wednesday lodged a formal diplomatic protest with Japan over references in Tokyo's latest defense white paper to a pair of islets controlled by South Korea but claimed by Japan.

Defense Ministry officials summoned Fumihiro Araki, the military attache at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to complain about the ''Defense of Japan'' report released Tuesday.

The annual white paper defines the islands of Takeshima, called Dokdo in South Korea, as part of Japanese territory and says that the issue of its sovereignty has yet to be resolved.

''We made it clear that Japan's definition of Dokdo as its territory was not tolerable as it challenged South Korea's sovereignty,'' a Defense Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

''We expressed deep regret over the activity aimed at justifying its past military aggression,'' the spokesman said.

Japanese Embassy officials said Araki conveyed the Japanese position on the territorial dispute to the South Korea side, and promised to convey Seoul's protest to his government.

On March 16, the Shimane Prefectural Assembly stirred an outcry in South Korea by passing a resolution to designate Feb. 22 as ''Takeshima Day'' to highlight Japan's claims to the rocky outcroppings, on which the South Korean government has stationed armed guards since July 1954.