Japan calls South Korean lawmaker's visit to disputed islets 'unacceptable'

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Japan expressed "extreme regret" after a South Korean politician visited the disputed Dokdo islets on the occasion of Korea's liberation day.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Wednesday at a regular press briefing that South Korean lawmaker Hong Suk-joon's visit to the uninhabited territory was "completely unacceptable and extremely regrettable," Japan's Jiji Press reported.

"Judging from historical facts, Takeshima is clearly Japanese territory, even under international law," Kato said, referring to the islets by their Japanese name.

"To protect the territory, territorial waters and airspace of [Japan], we will continue to take resolute actions in the future."

South Korea and Japan both claim the islets. Japan incorporated Dokdo into its territory when it annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1905, five years before official colonial occupation.

Seoul has said Japan's claims were no longer valid after the end of World War II and colonial occupation. Japan disagrees, despite a 1965 bilateral treaty that declared null and void the treaties of 1905 and 1910.

Japan's foreign ministry confirmed Tuesday that it had sent a complaint to the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo. South Korea refuted Japanese claims Wednesday.

A South Korean foreign ministry official told local news service MoneyToday that Dokdo is "undoubtedly Korean territory, historically, geographically and under international law."

"We cannot accept any unreasonable demands or claims from Japan regarding Korea's territorial sovereignty."

Many pre-modern Japanese maps of Dokdo marked the islets as Korean territory, according to the Dokdo Foundation in the South Korean city of Pohang, Yonhap said in February.

Hong visited Dokdo on Sunday on the 76th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule. The South Korean lawmaker said he was visiting the islets to protest Japan's decision to mark them as Japanese territory on a map on the Tokyo Olympic website, according to MoneyToday.