By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan called in Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Toshinori Shigeie to deliver a message of protest against Japan's renewed plan to teach its students about its claim to sovereignty over Korea's Dokdo islets, according to a ministry official Friday.
Earlier in the day, the government expressed regret over the move, but has yet to decide on other measures to deal with the claim, such as recalling South Korean Ambassador to Japan.
"No matter what claim Tokyo makes, our government stresses once again that there is no territorial dispute between the two sides," foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
The statement came hours after Japan released a teaching manual for high school teachers, which is non-binding but affects textbook publishers as well.
It did not name Dokdo, the Korea' rocky islets in the East Sea, in its description of sovereignty claims, but suggested helping students to comprehend territorial issues using middle school curricula.
The manual, which is to be used for a decade, calls on teachers to help students understand these issues by providing accurate information based on the Japanese government's "legitimate" claims.
The latest manual is testing Korea-Japan ties again, which have shown signs of improvement following the launch of his government.
Moon said: "The revision of educational guidelines may have a negative impact on Korea-Japan ties by injecting the wrong perception about territory into Japan's future generation."
In July last year, Japan claimed territorial sovereignty over Korea's easternmost islets in a guidebook for middle school teachers, triggering protests from countries including Korea and China.
After the guidebook was published, President Lee Myung-bak recalled Ambassador to Japan Kwon Chul-hyun and expressed regrets.
The government also formed a task force and held about 30 meetings to work out measures to cope with the controversial Japanese campaign.
"Japan did not directly mention the Dokdo Islets, unlike last year. My understanding is that Japan considered the sensitivity of the Dokdo issue this time," a ministry official said, requesting anonymity.
President Lee has called for future-oriented relations with Japan since his inauguration early last year. Seoul-Tokyo ties are often strained by disputes over their shared history that includes the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Japan laid a similar claim to the Dokdo islets in 2005, and then-President Roh Moo-hyun suspended his shuttle diplomacy with then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Korea has stationed a coast guard unit on Dokdo since 1953.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
