S.Korean lawmakers pass resolution to slam Japan's history distortion

South Korean lawmakers passed a resolution on Tuesday to denounce Japan's approval of school textbooks that distorted history and laid territorial claims to Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan.

Among 182 lawmakers attending the plenary session, 181 voted in favor of the resolution and one abstained

The resolution said they strongly denounce Japan's successive provocative acts by distorting history and infringing on South Korea's territorial sovereignty.

The passing of the resolution came after Japan approved 18 textbooks last Monday for middle school students, which laid territorial claims to the Dokdo islets, lying 87 km east of the South Korean island of Ulleungdo.

Last Tuesday, Japan unveiled its annual Diplomatic Blue Paper, in which it claimed the rocky outcroppings have been illegally occupied by South Korea. Dokdo is comprised of two main islets and a group of smaller rocks. The islets have been administered by South Korea since it stationed border guards there in 1954.

Japan claimed the islets were the inherent part of its territory, but South Korea said the islets were the first victim of Japan's imperialistic occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

The parliamentary resolution said Japan has taken an ambivalent attitude by talking about the need for improved ties with South Korea on the surface, and actively skewing and manipulating history behind its back.

It expressed deep worries about the distorted textbooks as the distortion will encourage conflicts and disputes of future generations as well as the current generation. Endi