This file photo taken on Aug 25, 2019 and provided by the South Korean Navy shows the South Korean Navy's Aegis-equipped destroyer, Sejong the Great, participating in a military drill near the Dokdo islets. (PHOTO / AFP)
SEOUL – South Korea on Friday protested against Japan's renewed territorial claims to the disputed islets lying halfway between the two countries, called Dokdo by South Korea and Takeshima by Japan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the South Korean government strongly protests against the Japanese government's unjust repeated territorial claims to Dokdo, which is South Korea's own territory in terms of history, geography and international law.
South Korea added that the Japanese government should be clearly aware that the repeated claims over Dokdo are of no help to build a future-oriented relationship between South Korea and Japan
The ministry urged Tokyo to immediately retract its territorial claims, which were made through Japan's 2023 defense white paper released earlier in the day.
ALSO READ: South Korea denounces Japan's territorial claim to disputed islets
The statement noted that South Korea makes it clear once again that Japan's unjust claims will not have any impact on South Korean sovereignty over Dokdo, saying that Seoul will firmly respond to any provocation over Dokdo.
It added that the Japanese government should be clearly aware that the repeated claims over Dokdo are of no help to build a future-oriented relationship between South Korea and Japan.
READ MORE: S. Korea-Japan meet clouded by nuke water plan
Since 2005, Japan has laid territorial claims to the rocky outcroppings every year in its diplomatic blue and defense white papers.
South Korea restored its sovereignty over Dokdo after the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonization. Seoul has since been in effective control of the islets, with a small police detachment deployed.
ALSO READ: South Korea to return to Japan's 'white list' for exports on July 21
South Koreans see Japan's territorial claims to the islets as a denial of colonial history, as Dokdo was the very first territory that was forcibly occupied by Imperial Japan.