Photo : YONHAP News
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it will respond firmly to Japan’s unjust claims over South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo following remarks from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
An official at the ministry issued the statement Friday, saying Dokdo is clearly South Korean territory historically, geographically and under international law.
Takaichi said the previous day that she would work to create conditions to eventually send a Cabinet minister to the annual “Takeshima Day” event and continue promoting Japan’s claim to the islets internationally.
Tokyo refers to Dokdo by the Japanese name Takeshima.
The Japanese government has sent a parliamentary vice minister-level official to the event, and sending a Cabinet minister would mark a stronger assertion of Japan’s territorial claim over the islets.
Takaichi had previously said a Cabinet minister might attend the event, the first one since she took office.
In Thursday’s remarks, she again raised the possibility of dispatching a Cabinet minister.