S Korea slams Japan's renewed territorial claim as delusive

SEOUL -- South Korea on Thursday slammed Japan 's renewed territorial claim to a pair of islets, called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, as delusive, saying that the islets are an inherent part of South Korea's territory.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il told a press briefing that the islets are not a matter of discussion with a third party, saying that whatever the South Korean government decides to do there is a matter of exercising the country's sovereignty.

His comments came a day after Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Seoul may have canceled its construction project to build a facility on the islets as Japan has demanded that the project be called off.

South Korea's procurement agency opened bidding on Oct. 20 to contractors to build a three-story facility on one of the islets, but it abruptly canceled the construction project 10 days later.

On Nov. 1, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won chaired a meeting of ministers, where the suspension of the project was confirmed. The suspension was unveiled in several local media on Wednesday.

Some local media reported that Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se demanded the cancellation during the ministers' meeting to avoid diplomatic friction with Japan, and others said the decision was made not to be entangled with Japan's strategy of making the islets an issue of regional conflict.

Suga claimed that Takeshima (or Dokdo in South Korea) is an indigenous part of Japan's territory both historically and under an international law, noting that Japan had repeatedly demanded the construction project be called off.

Regarding the comments, Noh said that believing what Suga wants to believe is his freedom, reiterating Dokdo is an inherent part of South Korea's territory historically, geographically and under an international law.

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