Seoul, Aug 2 (IANS) South Korea on Tuesday lodged a strong protest against Japan's repeated territorial claims on its eastern-most Dokdo islets, lying halfway between the two countries.
Seoul's Defence Ministry called in an attache from Japanese Embassy in Seoul to protest against Japan's 2016 defence White Paper in which the islets are described as Japan's territory, Xinhua news agency reported.
It marked the 12th consecutive year that Japan claimed sovereignty over the islets in the annual white paper.
The ministry expressed deep regrets over the Japanese government in its protest letter saying Japan must immediately stop making useless claims and make efforts to open a new future for relations between the two country.
The protest letter noted that South Korea's military will take stern actions against any Japanese attempt to damage South Korea's sovereignty over the Dokdo islets.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that South Korea strongly protests against Japan's unjust territorial claims on Dokdo islets, which are its indigenous territory historically, geographically and according to international laws.
