South Korean lawmakers land on disputed islet, prompting Japan protest

TOKYO: A group of South Korean lawmakers landed on an islet disputed with Japan in the East China Sea yesterday, prompting a protest from Tokyo and straining ties at a time when stalled talks over North Korea’s nuclear programme call for close coordination.

Tokyo and Seoul have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of a group of islets called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbours in the Sea of Japan, which Seoul refers to as the East Sea.

“This landing on Takeshima by a group of South Korean lawmakers was carried out despite Japan’s advance protests and requests to call it off,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a regular news conference.

“In light of our country’s stance on sovereignty over Takeshima, this is by no means acceptable.”

It was the lawmakers’ second visit to the islands since August 2016, media said.

The two countries share a bitter history that includes Japan’s 191045 colonisation of the Korean peninsula and the issue of “comfort women”, a Japanese euphemism for South Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels in World War Two.

South Korea last week shut down a Japan-funded foundation created under a 2015 deal between the Asian neighbours to settle compensation for the women. — Reuters