South Korea Calls Japanese Diplomat Protests Dokdo Island Claims

JAKARTA - South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday summoned Japanese diplomats to protest Japan's claim to Dokdo Island in the East Sea as stated in an annual defense official report issued on the same day.

Seo Min-jeong, Director General of Asia Pacific affairs at the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Mondo Yamamoto, Deputy Head of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to file a protest after Tokyo adopted its latest defense official report, as reported by ANTARA from Yonhap-OANA, Friday, July 28.

In the report, Tokyo renewed its claim of sovereignty over Dokdo for 19 consecutive years.

Yamamoto was reluctant to respond to reporters' questions when entering an overseas ministry building in downtown Seoul.

Dokdo has long been a source of tension between the two neighboring countries after Japan continued to deliver sovereignty claims in government official reports, public statements and school textbooks.

South Korea has been effective in controlling Dokdo, with one small police detachment since his release from Japanese colonialism in 1910-1945.