South Korea summons Japanese diplomat to protest 'Takeshima Day'

South Korea summoned a senior Japanese diplomat on Monday to strongly protest Japan's latest move of sending a high-level government official to attend the controversial "Takeshima Day" event.

Lee Sang-deok, director-general in charge of Northeast Asian affairs at South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered the government's strong protest against the celebration after summoning Kenji Kanasugi, a minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The summoning came a day after Japan's Shimane prefecture held the annual ceremony of the 'Takeshima Day', which was set up in 2006 by the prefectural government to lay territorial claims to the disputed islets, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.