Japan repeats claims over Dokdo in diplomatic report

Japan repeated its territorial claims over South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo in its annual diplomatic report Friday, an official said, just two days after Tokyo approved a series of textbooks claiming the islets as its territory.

Shortly after Japan's Cabinet approved the "Diplomatic Blue Paper" report for 2011 with claims to the islets, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed to continue to reinforce South Korea's control of the islets, saying Dokdo "is our territory" no matter what happens.

Referring to calls for stronger government action on the issue, Lee said, however, that it wouldn't be wise for Seoul to make a big deal of the Dokdo matter as the islets are under South Korean control.

"We will continue to undertake what it takes to strengthen our effective control," he said.

The Japanese diplomatic report, which outlines the country's positions on major points, carried the same territorial descriptions of Dokdo as its previous version issued last year, which says Japan has a consistent position that the islets are its territory.

The report also says that Japan is trying to promote its position through pamphlets while repeatedly delivering the stance to South Korea, and that the country will make persistent efforts to bring a peaceful resolution to the issue.

Seoul's foreign ministry expressed protest and regret over the Japanese move. It plans to summon a diplomatic minister at Japan's embassy in Seoul to file an official protest, the ministry official said.

Japan first mentioned the Dokdo claims in the diplomatic report in 1963 and has since carried the claims in the book on an irregular basis without putting them in the reports issued in 1967-1970, 1988-1989, 1993-1996, 1998-1999, 2002 and 2007.

The move came after Tokyo licensed a dozen middle school textbooks Wednesday with enhanced claims over the islets compared with the previous versions of the texts. The number of textbooks claiming South Korea is "illegally occupying" Dokdo rose from one to four.

South Korea strongly protested and urged Japan to scrap the decision.

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan immediately called in Japanese Ambassador Masatoshi Muto and lodged complaints. On Friday, Seoul's ambassador to Tokyo, Kwon Chul-hyun, made a protest visit to Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto.

The series of Japanese moves came at a time when South Koreans have been pouring out sympathy and support for the former colonial ruler suffering from a devastating earthquake and tsunami.

But South Korea says humanitarian assistance is a different matter from the textbook issue.

On Friday, Seoul's education and science minister, Lee Ju-ho, planned to fly to Dokdo to establish radiation detection equipment there amid rising fears of radioactive substances coming out of Japan's quake-hit nuclear power plant.

The visit is also seen as aimed at demonstrating that the islets are South Korean territory.

South Korea has also been renovating the heliport on Dokdo in a project to enhance its control of the islets. Officials said they are considering a series of other projects to bolster South Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo.

Japan's claims over the islets have long been a thorn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

South Korea rejects the claims as nonsense because the country regained independence from Japan's 35-year colonial rule in 1945 and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula.

Since 1954, South Korea has stationed a small police detachment on Dokdo. (Yonhap)

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