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| This photo shows the image on the box of President Moon Jae-in's gift sent to foreign ambassadors in the country to mark the Lunar New Year. The Japanese embassy refused to receive the gift, as the image resembles Dokdo in the East Sea. Yonhap |
The Japanese Embassy in Seoul has refused to accept South Korean President Moon Jae-in's Lunar New Year gift, claiming the gift's box bears an image of South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, Japanese news reports said Saturday.
Cheong Wa Dae had sent a gift box with traditional liquor and other items to Ambassador Koichi Aiboshi and other foreign ambassadors in Seoul to celebrate the Lunar New Year that falls Feb. 1.
But the Japanese Embassy returned the gift Friday, as the box has an illustration that resembles the islets of Dokdo in the East Sea, according to the reports.
Upon the refusal, the embassy lodged a protest and repeated Japan's territorial claim to the islets.
The image of a sunrise is believed to represent South Korea's commitment to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic and starting anew in the New Year. Dokdo is where people can watch the first sunrise in the country.
The presidential office did not make any specific comments on the issue.
South Korea has been in effective control of Dokdo, with a small police detachment stationed there, since its liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945.
However, Japan repeatedly claims sovereignty to the rocky outcroppings, making it a thorn in relations between the two countries. (Yonhap)
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