South Korean civic groups staged rallies on Monday to denounce a Japanese prefecture’s hosting of an annual event to promote its territorial claim to Seoul’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.
The rallies came a day after Japan’s Shimane Prefecture, which claims administrative sovereignty over the rocky islets, observed the so-called Takeshima Day event. A Japanese vice-minister-level official was sent to this year’s ceremony, prompting a strong protest from South Korea.
The prefecture has held the event on Feb. 22 since 2005, and Takeshima is the Japanese name of the rocky islets located in the East Sea.
Hundreds of members of local civic organizations gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in downtown Seoul on Monday, followed by a press conference to denounce Tokyo’s repeated territorial claims.
“The Japanese government should annul the designation of Takeshima Day,” said the Dokdo Network, as the members chanted slogans like, “Stop distorting history.”
Holding a banner reading, “Takeshima Out,” they also called for Japan to stop attempts to distort history and make an apology.
Protesters also called for Japan to take responsibility for its past wrongdoing and urged Japanese politicians to stop paying visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors millions of Japanese who died for the country, including 14 Class-A war criminals from World War II.
The rocky outcroppings, which lie closer to South Korea than Japan in waters between the neighbors, have been a nagging source of diplomatic feud between them.
South Korea has rejected Japan’s claim to Dokdo since the country regained its independence from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule and reclaimed sovereignty over its territories, including Dokdo. (Yonhap)
