21.10.2017, Japan.
Japan filed a protest to South Korea over Seoul’s plan to reinforce the defense of disputed islets of Tokto (Takeshima) with a new military unit, said Foreign Minister Taro Kono on October 20, the Izvestia newspaper reports.
Since 1954 a small South Korean military garrison has been located on islets of Tokto, which, according to Japan, is the evidence of occupation, because in 1905 these islets became a part of the Japanese empire. At the same time, South Korea and DPRK regularly remind Tokyo that the archipelago historically always belonged to the Korean state.
The archipelago of Tokto (Takeshima) consists of small rocky islets in the western part of the Sea of Japan. South Korea got these islets following the results of World War II. Japan still considers that this archipelago belongs to it.
The territorial controversy over islets of Tokto had begun after World War II because these islets were absent in the Peace Treaty of San Francisco between Japan and the Allied Powers. In 2012 Japan recalled its envoy from South Korea temporary because of a visit of the South Korean President to these islets.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
