S. Korea denounces Japan for renewing its claim to disputed islets

South Korea denounced Japan on Wednesday for sending a senior government official to an annual ceremony which aimed at promoting its claim to a pair of disputed islets, called Dokdo by South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that it strongly protests against Japan maintaining its unjust claims to Dokdo by sending a high-ranking official to the so-called “Dokdo Day”.

The statement urged Japan to immediately stop such an event and show an attitude of seeing history in a humble way, saying Dokdo is a territory of South Korea historically, geographically and by international law.

The ministry also called in a senior Japanese diplomat to lodge an official protest.

A general view shows a part of the group of islets known in South Korea as Dokdo and in Japan as Takeshima on October 20, 2007. /CFP Photo

South Korea has effectively had control of the rugged islets, composed mainly of volcanic rocks, since 1954. The rocky outcroppings were incorporated into Japan during its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula, but the control of the islets was restored by South Korea following its liberation from colonial rule.

Japan's Shimane prefecture designated February 22 as Takeshima Day in 2005, and has, since 2006, held an event to mark the day annually.

The Japanese government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has sent a senior cabinet member to the ceremony since 2013. For this year's celebration, Shunsuke Mutai, parliamentary vice minister of the Cabinet Office, attended it as a government representative.

The disputed islets have long been a recurring source of tension between the neighbors.

Earlier, Japan's education ministry disclosed a draft version of its revised education guidelines that calls for elementary and middle schools to teach their students that the islets are Japan's territory.

The latest friction over Dokdo comes on top of already frayed diplomatic ties between the two countries over the so-called “statue of a girl” recently erected before Japan's consulate in South Korea. The statue symbolizes the hardship suffered by Korean women forced by Japan into Japanese military brothels during World War II.

The picture shows the girl stature in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan, South Korea on January 8, 2017. /CFP Photo

Japan is demanding its immediate removal and recalled its ambassador to South Korea in protest last month.

The Japanese top envoy has yet to return to his post. South Korea claims that it is not in its purview to take down the statue since it was built by civic groups.

South Korean civic group activists put up a girl stature in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan, South Korea’s southeastern port city.

It is the second stature erected near Japan’s diplomatic office, since the first one was placed in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul in December 2011.