Japan pledges to resolve territorial dispute with S. Korea but maintains claim over islets

Japan on Monday while saying it would endeavor to resolve a long-standing territorial dispute with South Korea saw Seoul rap Tokyo over a senior official presiding over a ceremony in western Japan to contend its claims over disputed islets as being Japanese territory.

Despite diplomatic ties between the two countries purportedly thawing of late, the territorial dispute regarding two South Korean-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan and claimed by the latter, have resurfaced of late.

At the 11th installment of a ceremony known as "Takeshima Day" here, Yasuyuki Sakai, a Cabinet Office parliamentary secretary, said equivocally at the event held in Shimane Prefecture that the islets dispute should be firmly "resolved in a calm and peaceful manner," yet maintained that the islets were a part of the town of Okinoshima in the prefecture, and hence Japanese territory.

"Takeshima is an inherent part of Japan, in light of historical facts and international law," Sakai was quoted by local media as saying, with the remarks quickly blasted by South Korea's foreign ministry.

At the ceremony, Zembee Mizoguchi, the governor of the prefecture, said that relations were improving between Japan and South Korea and expressed his hopes that ongoing discussions on the territorial dispute between the two nations would be discussed at a diplomatic level.

The islets have been controlled by South Korea since 1953, but the ceremony has been held since 2006 after a Cabinet decision saw the islets incorporated by the prefecture, 100 years after Japan declared the islets to be part of its territory.

In a bid to limit the backlash from Seoul, Tokyo opted not to send a higher ranking government official to the contentious annual ceremony, although activists opposed to the ceremony and Japan's claims over the islets picketed the ceremony, local media reported.

Although Sakai pledged to advance dialogue with Seoul over the long-standing impasse, the government's top spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said that Japan will take its argument over its territorial claim global, to seek the support of the international community for its stance on the tiny islets.

Suga reiterated Japan's position that the sovereignty over the islands is incontrovertible and supported Sakai's attendance at the February 22 "Takeshima Day" ceremony, which is sponsored by the western prefecture.

Japan is currently involved in territorial disputes with Russia, which have prevented the two sides from signing a post war peace treaty and also with China, which has also seen diplomatic ties enervate due partly to the issue. Endit