Korea strongly denounces Japan for renewing its claim to Dokdo

Published : Feb 22, 2017 - 15:30 Updated : Feb 22, 2017 - 15:30

South Korea on Wednesday denounced Japan for sending a high-ranking official to a local event aimed at promoting its territorial claim to Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo.

"We strongly protest Japan's central government for maintaining its unjustified claim to Dokdo by sending a high-ranking official again to the so-called Dokdo Day held by Shimane Prefecture," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "We demand an immediate stop to the attempt."

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck (Yonhap)

It also called in a senior Japanese diplomat to lodge its official protest.

In 2005, Japan's Shimane Prefecture, which claims administrative sovereignty over the rocky islets, designated Feb. 22 as so-called Takeshima Day. Takeshima is the Japanese name for Dokdo.

Tokyo sent a vice-minister-level official to this year's ceremony held on Wednesday as a government representative, the fifth year in a row that a ranking official has joined the controversial event. (Yonhap)