ID :
195060
Thu, 07/14/2011 - 14:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/195060
The shortlink copeid
Seoul summons senior Japanese diplomat to file protest over Dokdo claim
(3rd LD) SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- A senior Japanese diplomat in Seoul was summoned Thursday by South Korea's foreign ministry that demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Japanese government's punitive measures against Korean Air for flying a special flight over the Dokdo islets last month.
The summoning of the Japanese diplomat came hours after Seoul expressed "strong regret and disappointment" over the Japanese foreign ministry's instruction for 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 over the South Korean islets, which are also claimed by Japan.
Japanese embassy officials in Seoul also visited Korean Air this week to protest the flight.
Hideaki Mizukoshi, a diplomatic minister for political affairs at the Japanese embassy in Seoul, was summoned by Chang Won-sam, director-general of the South Korean foreign ministry's Northeast Asian affairs bureau, who urged Tokyo to immediately withdraw what he called "sanctions" against a private South Korean firm.
Mizukoshi was later quoted as telling Chang that his government has its own reasons for taking such steps.
South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae earlier said the government will take "stern" measures regarding the issue without specifying what measures it would take.
"The Japanese measure, regarded as a sort of sanction against a private company, can hardly be understood," he told reporters. "In this context, we delivered our strong regret and disappointment and called for Japan to immediately withdraw the measure."
Officials at Korean Air said they had no comment on the issue, calling it a matter between the governments of South Korea and Japan.
Japan's claims to 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.
Tensions 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 Japanese territory.
Another foreign ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, "We can't accept any protests from the Japanese side over our national airline's flight to our territory."
On Sunday, Japan's chief envoy to the stalled multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear program, Shinsuke Sugiyama, will visit South Korea, the ministry official said.
The South Korean ministry also plans to lodge a protest with Sugiyama over Japan's temporary ban on bookings with Korean Air during his visit, according to the official.
The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since late 2008.
The summoning of the Japanese diplomat came hours after Seoul expressed "strong regret and disappointment" over the Japanese foreign ministry's instruction for 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 over the South Korean islets, which are also claimed by Japan.
Japanese embassy officials in Seoul also visited Korean Air this week to protest the flight.
Hideaki Mizukoshi, a diplomatic minister for political affairs at the Japanese embassy in Seoul, was summoned by Chang Won-sam, director-general of the South Korean foreign ministry's Northeast Asian affairs bureau, who urged Tokyo to immediately withdraw what he called "sanctions" against a private South Korean firm.
Mizukoshi was later quoted as telling Chang that his government has its own reasons for taking such steps.
South Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae earlier said the government will take "stern" measures regarding the issue without specifying what measures it would take.
"The Japanese measure, regarded as a sort of sanction against a private company, can hardly be understood," he told reporters. "In this context, we delivered our strong regret and disappointment and called for Japan to immediately withdraw the measure."
Officials at Korean Air said they had no comment on the issue, calling it a matter between the governments of South Korea and Japan.
Japan's claims to 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.
Tensions 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 Japanese territory.
Another foreign ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, "We can't accept any protests from the Japanese side over our national airline's flight to our territory."
On Sunday, Japan's chief envoy to the stalled multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear program, Shinsuke Sugiyama, will visit South Korea, the ministry official said.
The South Korean ministry also plans to lodge a protest with Sugiyama over Japan's temporary ban on bookings with Korean Air during his visit, according to the official.
The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, have been stalled since late 2008.
