SEOUL– South Korea’s Defense Minister Suh Wook visited the eastern island of Ulleung on Thursday, his office said, amid a renewed territorial spat between Seoul and Tokyo over the adjacent islets of Dokdo.
The spat flared anew as a senior Japanese diplomat boycotted a joint press event involving his South Korean and U.S. counterparts in Washington on Wednesday to protest the recent visit to the East Sea outcroppings by Korea’s top police officer.
Suh visited the Navy’s 118th Early Warning Squadron and the Air Force’s 319th Air Defense Control Squadron on the island and encouraged service members there, the defense ministry said in a press release.
The visit triggered speculation that it might be linked to the row with Japan, but the ministry rejected it, saying the trip had been planned a “long time ago.”
The minister also boarded the Navy’s Hansando ship cruising nearby to meet cadets from the Army, Navy and Air Force who were under a joint training program.
Japan has repeatedly laid claim to Dokdo.
Korea rejects the claim, stressing Dokdo is its inherent territory historically, geographically and by international law. It has kept a small police detachment on the islets since 1954.
Source: Yonhap News Agency