S Korea protests Japanese event over disputed islands

SEOUL: South Korea ⁠on Sunday protested a Japanese government event commemorating a cluster of disputed ​islands between the ​two countries, calling the move an unjust assertion of sovereignty over its territory. In a statement, the foreign ministry said it strongly objected to the Takeshima Day event held by Japan's Shimane prefecture and to the attendance of ⁠a senior Japanese government official, urging Japan to immediately abolish ⁠the ceremony.

The tiny islets, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, which controls them, have long been a source of tension between the two neighbours, whose relations ​remain strained by ⁠disputes rooted in Japan's colonial rule of the Korean ​peninsula from 1910 to ‌1945. "Dokdo is clearly South Korea's sovereign territory historically, geographically and under international law," the ministry ​said. The ministry summoned a top Japanese diplomat to the ministry building in Seoul to lodge a protest.

Seoul has repeatedly objected ​to Japan's territorial claims over the islands, including ⁠a protest issued ​on Friday over comments by Japan's foreign minister during a parliamentary address asserting Tokyo’s sovereignty over the islets. — Reuters