The U.S. State Department Thursday acknowledged that a U.S. agency erroneously changed the sovereignty of South Korea's remote islets of Dokdo, which triggered outrage in South Korea.
"The decision was taken because in the course of this exercise, it was detected that there were a number of anomalies and inaccuracies in the database," Yonhap News quoted Sean McCormack, spokesman for the State Department, as saying during a daily press briefing.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) reinstated South Korea's sovereignty over its remote Dokdo islets in its database Wednesday, just hours after U.S. President George W. Bush ordered amid strong protests from South Korea.
McCormack said Wednesday's decision was made "in the right way, that not only took into consideration the technical aspects of these kinds of designations and decisions, but also the political meaning, diplomatic considerations about what is and what is not the sovereign territory of given states."
Bush is scheduled to meet with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak next week to discuss cementing ties between the two allies. Bush will be on his way to Beijing to attend the Aug. 8 opening ceremony of the Olympics.
The BGN last week changed Dokdo's status from South Korean territory to "undesignated sovereignty" on its Web site, infuriating South Koreans, who still harbor bitter memories of Japan's brutal colonial rule over Korea from 1910 to 1945. Japan also claims ownership of the islets.
Lee Dong-kwan, spokesman for President Lee Myung-bak, welcomed the decision as "reflecting the restoration of the South Korea-U.S. alliance and mutual trust," saying, "The exceptionally swift reaction suggests that President Bush has a full understanding of the Korean people's sentiment and also reflects deep trust and friendship between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Bush."
Analysts say the amicable relationship between Lee and Bush helped resolve the issue. Lee is the first South Korean president who was invited to Camp David in April. Lee is the first pro-U.S. conservative president after a 10-year liberal rule.
South Korean media have blasted the U.S. in recent days for apparently siding with Japan on ownership of the rocky islets, which lie in waters between the two Northeast Asian neighbors. The
media have claimed that the U.S. did not acknowledge South Korea's ownership at the end of World War II so that it could use the islets for military purposes with Japan's acquiescence.
Japan took control of South Korea's Dokdo islets in 1905, soon after it won a war with Russia in the East Sea and forced Korea to sign a treaty nullifying its diplomatic sovereignty.
South Korea has maintained scores of police officers on the easternmost islets since the country's liberation in 1945 from decades of Japanese colonial rule. Navy patrol ships of both sides almost clashed near Dokdo in 2006 as Japan attempted to conduct an undersea survey there, but the Japanese boats withdrew at the last minute.