Lawmakers cancel parliamentary meeting on Dokdo due to bad weather

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean lawmakers have decided to cancel a meeting of their special parliamentary committee set for Friday on the easternmost islets of Dokdo because of poor weather conditions, a government source said Thursday.
About 10 lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties had planned to hold the committee meeting on Dokdo in a display of resolution to counter recent attempts by Japan to lay claim to Dokdo in the East Sea.
But their planned helicopter ride to the islets would have to be canceled as weather worsened there, the source said on the condition of anonymity.
"I have learned that they postponed holding the meeting on Dokdo because of bad weather," the source said, adding the parliamentary committee will soon make an official announcement.
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan voiced regret on Wednesday over the planned meeting by South Korean lawmakers on Dokdo.
Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, has long been a thorn in relations between the two countries.
Diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan have recently risen over a renewed Japanese push to strengthen its territorial claim to the rocky islets in the East Sea.
Four lawmakers from Japan's conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party were banned early last week from traveling to a South Korean island close to Dokdo.
South Korea also summoned a senior Japanese embassy official last week and protested Japan's 2011 defense white paper, which renewed its territorial claim to Dokdo.
kdh@yna.co.kr