Japan aghast after S.Korean military drills along disputed islets

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan on Wednesday lodged a protest after it was revealed that South Korea held military exercises along a series of islets disputed between the two countries.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry summoned a South Korean diplomat to express its disappointment over Seoul's military drill "in defense" of the islands, known in Japan as Takeshima, while South Korea calls them Dokdo.

"Japan can never accept the drills and finds them extremely regrettable," Takehiro Funakoshi, director general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, told Kim Yong Gil, a diplomat at the South Korean Embassy.

The military drill was held last week "to strengthen the defense" of the disputed islets.

"The country's military staged the drills to ensure their readiness to fend off potential foreign infiltrations to the rocky outcroppings," an unnamed South Korean official told Seoul-based Yonhap reported early on Wednesday.

Seoul has maintained forces on the islets since 1954 and holds military drills there twice a year.

South Korea's Defense Ministry is yet to speak on the issue.

The report added that Seoul is said to have not carried out any landing drills on the islets, rather conducting maneuvers on the water, as well as through computer simulation.

Funakoshi told the South Korean diplomat that the islets "are an inherent part of Japanese territory in light of historical facts and based on international law."

This was second incident in recent weeks related to the conflict over the islands.

A South Korean police chief had visited the islands in November for first time in over a decade, triggering protests from Tokyo.