How a marine survey in disputed waters is affecting South Korea’s long turbulent ties with Japan

Tokyo lodged official protests after a South Korean survey vessel was detected in waters near the islets known as Dokdo by Seoul, and Takeshima in Japan

Complicated relations stem from differing views on Imperial Japan’s treatment of colonial Korea, and the abuse of World War II comfort women from Korea

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Japan lodged a complaint on Monday over a South Korean ship conducting a marine survey in waters near the Japanese-claimed islands controlled by Seoul. Japan refers to them as Takeshima and South Korea calls them Dokdo. Photo: AP

Published: 3:45pm, 1 Jun 2022Updated: 7:39pm, 1 Jun 2022

Just weeks into the new administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol and after strong indications that South Korea’s relations with Japan were on the mend, the long-running and apparently intractable issue of sovereignty over remote islands between the nations has once again reared its head.

Japan lodged official protests through diplomatic channels on Monday and again on Tuesday after a South Korean survey vessel was detected in waters close to the rocky islets known in South Korea as Dokdo, and called Takeshima in Japan. Seoul presently controls the island and a police unit is permanently stationed on the islands, which are 87km from the Korean island of Ulleungdo and 156km from Japan’s Oki island.

Tokyo, however, insists the territory is Japanese and therefore the vessel was illegally operating within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

On Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno reiterated Japan’s long-standing position on the dispute, saying, “The Takeshima islets are obviously part of Japan’s inherent territory and the series of South Korean actions is unacceptable.”

According to the Japanese side, the Hae Yang 2000 surveying vessel was conducting inspections some 90km north of the islands. The ship is operated by the state-run Korean Hydrographic and Oceanographic Agency.

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