By Bernama,
Seoul : South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Wednesday that the government and the people will take a long-term and strategic counter-measures against Japan’s territorial claim to the disputed islets of Dokdo, which Japan calls Takeshima, in the East Sea (Sea of Japan).
“South Korea has to abstain from short-term and makeshift counter-measures as far as Dokdo is concerned. We must take measures meant to further consolidate our practical control of the islets in order to efficiently counter Japan’s claim to Dokdo,” Xinhua news agency quoted Lee as saying at a Cabinet meeting.
Japan has displayed a clear intention to turn Dokdo into the site of an international territorial dispute, the president said.
Japan’s Education Ministry announced on Monday its plan to define Dokdo as part of Japanese territory in a teacher’s guidebook, which is expected to influence upcoming middle school textbooks to be published by Japan’s civilian publishers and also serve as a guideline for teachers, despite Seoul’s repeated oppositions.
South Korea expressed deep regret over Japan’s move and recalled South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kwon Chul-hyun to return to Seoul on Tuesday in protest of Japan’s territorial claim over the islets.
South Korea insists that the Dokdo islets, located some 89 km southeast to South Korea’s Uleung Island and 160 km northwest to Japan’s Oki Island, have been listed as its territory in history literature since the fifth century.
Japan claims the islets have been its territory since the 17th century, as written in literature.
South Korea has controlled the Dokdo islets since 1950s.