Japanese lawmakers refuse to return home despite entry ban

(ATTN: UPDATES with Japan's response, civic group protests in last 3 paras; ADDS photos)
By Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- Three Japanese lawmakers who arrived in Seoul Monday on an apparent mission to reassert Tokyo's claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo are refusing to return home despite a ban on their entry at a local airport.
Yoshitaka Shindo, Tomomi Inada and Masahisa Sato, all from Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party, have been held for more than five hours in a waiting room at Seoul's Gimpo International Airport after South Korean immigration officials denied their entry.
The trip came after their announcement last month that they will visit the South Korean island of Ulleung, located about 90 kilometers west of Dokdo in the East Sea, during a four-day trip here. The move sparked outrage among some South Korean politicians, who viewed it as another attempt by Japan to lay claim to the set of rocky outcroppings.
South Korea dismisses Japan's claims as nonsense, saying it regained control over all of its territory, including Dokdo, at the end of Tokyo's 1910-45 colonial rule.
Seoul planned to send the legislators back on the return leg of the ANA flight they arrived on, but the lawmakers refused to board the plane, demanding a clear explanation of the reasons for the ban.
South Korea has justified the ban based on its immigration laws, which allow an entry ban on people who could harm the country's interests or the public's safety. The Justice Ministry has also raised concerns about potential clashes between the lawmakers and angry civic groups here.
Seoul informed Tokyo on Friday that the lawmakers would be stopped at the airport.



Under the same law, a nationalistic Japanese professor was denied entry on Sunday night and returned home earlier Monday. His visit was suspected of being a precursor to the legislators' trip.
"There is no change in our policy to send them back home as we are following official orders," said an immigration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "In light of our two countries' relations, we are doing our best to convince them to return voluntarily."
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Shindo reiterated Tokyo's claim that Dokdo belongs to Japan.
"However, we must discuss this issue as there is a difference in opinion between Japan and South Korea," he said.
"If our entry is denied, we will visit once again," he added, warning that the entry ban may evolve into a diplomatic row between the nations. "We're not terrorists. I don't understand on what basis they are claiming that we are a threat to South Korea's safety. They should first hear the purpose of our trip."
Nobukatsu Kanehara, a diplomatic minister at the Japanese embassy here, protested the move in a phone call to the foreign ministry here earlier in the day, according to a ministry official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The level of protest was "formal," the official said, adding that the ministry plans to use a diplomatic route to give the lawmakers a detailed explanation of the ban.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a press conference that his government cannot accept Seoul's response to the lawmakers' "legitimate" visit, saying he hopes such an incident will never occur again.
Meanwhile, more than 400 people from local civic groups rallied at the airport in protest of the trip, with some people burning photos of the legislators and tearing up the Japanese flag.
hague@yna.co.kr