일본 외교청서 '독도는 일본땅' 주장 되풀이... 한일 관계는 '격상'?
Japan has once again provoked fury in Korea... by renewing wrongful territorial claims over Korea's Dokdo Island.
It's part of that country's diplomatic paper issued today.
But, according to our Kwon Soa... there are slight changes in its wording on relations with Seoul that could be worth noting.
Japan has once again claimed Korea's easternmost Dokdo Island as Japanese territory in its new annual diplomatic report, prompting the Korean government to denounce such unfounded claim.
Seoul's foreign ministry summoned an official from the Japanese Embassy and urged the Japanese government to retract it.
"It is beyond deplorable that the Japanese government repeated its unjustified territorial claims to Dokdo, which historically, geographically, and by international law is our territory."
The ministry said Japan should squarely face history and work to improve bilateral relations in the future.
Japan's repeated territorial claims over Dokdo has long been a thorny issue between the neighboring countries and a major hurdle for improving bilateral ties.
With Japan offering more information on what it calls "Takeshima", or the Japanese name for Dokdo on websites in English,... experts say Korea has to do more too.
"There are concerns that if we promote Dokdo as being Korean territory in the same way Japan is doing,... to others around the world it might give the misconception that we are fighting over the region. But, if Japan gives out wrong information to the international community,... we should confidently make our counterarguments with clear logic."
"While Japan has not changed its stance on Dokdo,… Korea was identified as the "most important neighbor sharing strategic interests" in its 2016 diplomatic bluebook. This seems to indicate improved relations due to the landmark agreement on the so-called comfort women issue."
Experts see the inclusion of the deal on Japan's wartime sex slavery issue in Japan's diplomatic paper as a reflection of Tokyo's hope to improve relations with Seoul. However, this can also seem contradictory when Japan continues to place claims over Korea's territory of Dokdo, an issue as historical and thorny as the comfort women issue.
Kwon Soa, Arirang News.
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