S. Korean envoy returns to Japan after protesting islets disputes

TOKYO, Aug. 5 Kyodo - South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kwon Chul Hyun returned to his post on Tuesday after being recalled to Seoul last month in a protest against Japan's claim to sovereignty over two South Korean-controlled islets for the first time in a teaching guideline for junior high schools.

Kwon told reporters before leaving Seoul's Gimpo airport that there may be
''other ways'' to address the dispute even if Japan refuses to remove such
description, a comment taken as suggesting that South Korea could handle the
issue flexibly without solely demanding removal of the claim.
Kwon, however, said he is not yet sure whether a leaders' summit involving
Japan, China and South Korea will be held as scheduled in Japan in September.
It is also unknown whether Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will visit South Korea
later this year as planned, he said.
Kwon said after arriving at Tokyo's Haneda airport that the ''recovery of
trust'' is the only way to bring the two countries closer, urging Japan to take
appropriate steps to fix the problem.
Japan's decision last month to include a claim to sovereignty over the islets
for the first time in a teaching guideline for junior high schools sparked a
storm of protests in South Korea.
Kwon left Tokyo on July 15 as the South Korean government had decided to
temporarily recall Kwon in protest over the matter.
The islets, which are located in what South Korea calls the East Sea and Japan
calls the Sea of Japan, include surrounding reefs and cover a total area of
210,000 square meters. They are known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in
Japan.
The islets have been the subject of a long-standing dispute between the two
neighbors.
==Kyodo