Seoul: South Korea called in a Japanese diplomat Friday to lodge protest after Japan unveiled the extension of a museum showcasing its claims to South Korea's Dokdo islets. The foreign ministry voiced "strong regret" to Hirotaka Matsuo, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, urging Tokyo to shut down the museum promoting its territorial claims to the set of outcroppings in the East Sea.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Japan recently expanded the compound of the National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty in Tokyo. Built in 2018, the museum features exhibits promoting its sovereignty claims to Dokdo and several other islands currently under similar territorial disputes with China and Russia. "We express strong regret that, despite our continued calls for its closure, the Japanese government has gone ahead and opened an additional space in the museum," ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a commentary.
Lee emphasized that making repeated unjustified claims over Dokdo, which South Korea considers its inherent territory historically, geographically, and by international law, does not aid in building future-oriented bilateral relations. Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between the two neighbors, as Tokyo continues to make sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements, and school textbooks.
South Korea maintains a small police detachment on the islets, effectively controlling them.