S. Korea expresses regret over Japanese FM's remarks on Dokdo

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday denounced the new Japanese foreign minister's remarks about Seoul's easternmost islets of Dokdo located between the two nations.
Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, who was appointed the post last week, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper earlier in the day that Dokdo has been occupied without legal grounds, reiterating Tokyo's official stance on the South Korean islets.
"Dokdo is our territory in terms of history, geography and international laws and the government expresses regret about the ill-considered remarks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae told reporters.
Cho stressed that the South Korean government will continue to "sternly deal" with any actions that could undermine Seoul's sovereignty over Dokdo.
South Korea recently saw its relations with Japan deteriorate because of Tokyo's renewed move to strengthen its territorial claim to Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Four Japanese lawmakers were banned last month from traveling to a South Korean island close to Dokdo in their attempt to renew Tokyo's claim to the rocky outcroppings.
Japan's claims to Dokdo 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 36-year colonial rule in 1945.