South Korea on Monday warned Japan of possible "negative effects" on relations between the two countries if Tokyo approves school textbooks that lay claim to the South's easternmost islets of Dokdo or glorifies the country's wartime past.
The government also held a meeting of officials from the foreign ministry, the Prime Minister's Office and the education ministry to discuss responses in case new Japanese textbooks containing territorial claims to Dokdo win approval for use at middle schools from next year.
"We have a basic position that we will deal with it in a resolute and stern manner if there are unfair territorial claims to Dokdo or distortion of history in the outcome of Japan's review of school textbooks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae told reporters.
"If the result of Japan's textbook review has any negative effect on Korea-Japan relations, the entire responsibility lies with Japan," he said, adding that South Korea will keep carrying out measures to bolster its sovereignty over Dokdo.
Starting repair work at the heliport on Dokdo could be one of the steps that South Korea takes to increase its sovereignty over the islets, officials said.
"Our policy is to respond sternly to Japan's territorial claims to Dokdo and we will demonstrate this not by words, but by action," another foreign ministry official said. "However, we need to maintain the large policy framework of seeking future-oriented Korea-Japan relations while facing up to history."
Japanese school textbooks accused of laying claims to Dokdo or glorifying the country's wartime past have long been considered a thorn in relations between the two countries as resentment over Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea still runs deep here.
Japan's government is conducting a review of a series of history, geography and other middle school textbooks. The results of the review are expected to come as early as this week amid concern that it could hurt the warming ties between the two countries.
South Korean has rejected Tokyo's claims to Dokdo as nonsense and as a sign that the country has not repented for its militaristic past. South Korean Coast Guard officers have been stationed on Dokdo since 1954 to mark Seoul's ownership.
In a related move, the education ministry said that it will kick off an exhibition on Dokdo next week that will move to other parts of the country through mid-December. It would be the first time South Korea's government has organized such a large-scale circulating exhibition on Dokdo.
Historical records, photos and videos on South Korea's ownership of the islets will be on display at the exhibition set to open in the central city of Cheonan on April 4 for a 49-day run, according to an education ministry document and officials.
After its run in Cheonan, the exhibition will move to Seoul from June 13 to July 31, to Busan from Sept. 19 to Nov. 4 and to Gwangju from Nov. 15 to Dec. 16, according to the ministry. Regional educational offices and civic groups will be jointly organizing the exhibition.
The exhibition "will be a chance for not only students, but also other people to expand their understanding and love of Dokdo," the ministry said in the document sent to elementary, middle and high school teachers. "By responding actively to Japan's unfair claims to Dokdo, the exhibition will serve as an occasion to increase people's perception of the sovereignty over Dokdo." (Yonhap)