Japan protests S. Korea plan to build facilities near disputed isles

TOKYO, April 5 Kyodo -
Japan on Tuesday lodged a protest with South Korea over Seoul's plan to build a maritime science facility and a breakwater off a pair of disputed isles in the Sea of Japan, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Vice Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae summoned South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kwon Chul Hyun and lodged a strong protest over the plan, saying it is ''totally unacceptable'' and urging Seoul to cancel it, the ministry said.
Kwon explained Seoul's position on the territorial issue and said he will convey Japan's protest to the South Korean government.
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak vowed last week to strengthen Seoul's control over the uninhabited islets claimed by Japan, following Tokyo's renewed claim to the territory in junior high school textbooks recently approved for use from April 2012.
The twin disputed islets are known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea. Japan insists the two small islets and numerous reefs are part of western Japan's Shimane Prefecture, while South Korea claims the islands are part of North Gyeongsang Province.
According to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, construction work for the 2,700-square-meter science facility is expected to start later this month and is set to be completed by December next year. The base will monitor and analyze the climate and other natural phenomena in the area.
In a related development, Shimane Gov. Zembee Mizoguchi made an urgent plea to the Japanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday for a halt to South Korea's plan to build the maritime science base.
The governor said in a letter submitted to Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto that the new facility to be constructed by South Korea off the disputed isles would ''infringe Japanese sovereignty.''