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Japan bans officials from using Korean Air
Seoul expresses regret over reaction to Dokdo flight
By Lee Hyo-sik
The Japanese foreign ministry has instructed its employees not to fly with Korean Air in protest of the national flag carrier’s test flight of its first A380 over Dokdo last month.
In reaction, Seoul urged Tokyo to retract its move, calling the act “disappointing and regrettable.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan said Thursday that in protest of Korean Air’s flight path over Dokdo, which Japan calls Takeshima, it sent an email to all employees, including those stationed overseas, ordering them not to use the Korean airline for a month, beginning July 18.
“It is true that the foreign ministry ordered its workers not to fly with Korean Air for a month to protest the carrier’s ‘illegitimate” flight over Takeshima,” an official at the Northeast Asia Division of the Japanese ministry told The Korea Times over the phone. “The ministry is considering taking further steps to make it clear that Japan has sovereignty over the islets. But we have not yet decided exactly what they would be.”
The official declined to be named, given the sensitivity of the issue. The division is responsible for the ministry’s policies concerning the two Koreas.
On June 16, Korean Air operated an A380 test flight for the press from Incheon International Airport to the country’s easternmost islets and back. The following day, the jet made its first passenger flight, carrying travelers to Narita International Airport from Incheon.
Immediately after the test flight, the Japanese Embassy in Seoul strongly protested, expressing concerns that it could negatively affect bilateral relations between the two countries. With mounting pressure from the Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties to do more, the Japanese government decided to issue the flight ban.
“A Japanese Embassy official visited the airline’s headquarters on July 11, to protest last month’s flight over Takeshima. At the time, the official notified Korean Air of our decision that foreign ministry employees will not board its airplanes for one month from next Monday,” the official said.
Korean Air declined to comment on the issue, given its sensitivity.
The airline only said it is not in a position to make comments on government matters.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade here issued a statement, strongly criticizing its Japanese counterpart.
“It is unfortunate for Japan’s foreign ministry to order its employees not to use Korea Air. There is nothing wrong with Korea’s flagship carrier flying over Dokdo because it is an essential part of our territory historically, geographically and internationally,” the ministry said.
It demanded that Japan’s foreign ministry immediately withdraw the flight ban.
Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-je said Japan’s claim over Dokdo deserves no consideration, adding the Korean government will take all possible measures to defend the nation’s territorial sovereignty.
“The Japanese government’s flight restrictions are virtual sanctions on a private Korean company. We are taking this very seriously. Taking the current bilateral relations into consideration, the Japanese government’s act is disappointing and very regrettable,” Cho said at a briefing.