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Seoul protests Tokyo's event laying claim to Dokdo

Published: 23 Feb. 2025, 14:09

Taisuke Mibae, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, is seen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on Feb. 22 after he was summoned by the Korean government to protest Japan's renewed territorial claim over Dokdo. [NEWS1]

Seoul strongly protested Japan's renewed territorial claim over Dokdo on Saturday, following an event held in Shimane Prefecture laying claim to Korea's easternmost islets.

Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed strong regret and delivered its position to Taisuke Mibae, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, after summoning the diplomat to protest the event, officials said.

The government repeatedly urged Japan to "immediately abolish" the annual event.

"The Japanese government must immediately cease its unjust claims over Dokdo, which is historically, geographically and under international law clearly Korean territory, and face history with humility," the ministry said in a statement issued by spokesperson Lee Jae-woong.

The so-called Takeshima Day event was held in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, where local authorities and officials reaffirmed Japan's claim over the islets.

Since 2013, the Japanese government has sent a senior official to the annual event, and this year, Eriko Imai, a parliamentary vice minister, attended.

Shimane Prefecture designated Feb. 22 Takeshima Day in 2005, when it marked the 100th anniversary of Japan's unilateral incorporation of Dokdo into its administrative jurisdiction in 1905.

Yonhap