S. Korea demands Japan withdraw measure against Korean Air over Dokdo

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has demanded the Japanese government withdraw its measure against Korean Air over the South Korean airline's special flight last month near the Dokdo islets, an official said Thursday.
Japan's foreign ministry has instructed its officials to refrain from taking Korean Air flights for one month from Monday in protest of the airline's flight by its first Airbus A380. Japanese embassy officials in Seoul also visited Korean Air this week to protest the flight.



"We can't accept any protests from the Japanese side over our national airline's flight to our territory," a foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.
"Our government demanded Japan immediately withdraw its measure against Korean Air," the official said.
Japan's claims over the Dokdo islets in the East Sea have long been a thorn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo.
South Korea rejects the claims as nonsense because the country regained independence from Japan's 35-year colonial rule in 1945 and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula.
Tension between South Korea and Japan resurfaced in April after Japan's Cabinet approved the "Diplomatic Blue Paper" report for 2011 with claims to the islets and its education ministry approved a series of school textbooks claiming the islets as its territory.
(END)