SOUTH KOREA: South Koreans protest against Japan over disputed islands.

Record ID: 464044

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: South Koreans protest against Japan over disputed islands.
  • Date: 23rd July 2011
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JULY 22, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WITH POSTER OF JAPANESE POLITICIAN YOSHITAKA SHINDO VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS TEARING UP POSTER OF SHINDO VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING ANTI-JAPANESE SLOGANS AND WAVING FISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) PROTEST LEADER HWANG HYUN-DAE, SAYING: "They plan to visit the place with the mean ambition to forcibly seize the islets, which is obviously a violation on South Korean territory. Accordingly, to allow their entry to South Korea is to give up our sovereignty." MORE OF PROTEST JAPANESE EMBASSY JAPANESE NATIONAL FLAG
  • Embargoed: 7th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Korea, Republic of
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA94NFZ9EG92IMJY1CW3705KG2Q
  • Story Text: Seoul demonstrators tear up a poster of a Japanese politician's photo in protest against Japan's plan to visit a South Korean island, in the ongoing row over the disputed territories.
    Demonstrators in Seoul on Friday (July 22) protested over the island dispute between South Korea and Japan by tearing up a poster bearing the photo of a Japanese politician.
    The protest came after four Japanese officials announced a visit to the South Korean island of Ulleungdo about 87km (54 miles) northeast of the disputed islands to raise the territory issue.
    The waters surrounding the islands, called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, are rich in marine life and popular with squid fishermen, while the seabed in the area may have deposits of a natural gas hydrate that could be worth billions of dollars.
    About 50 protesters gathered in front of the Japanese embassy in downtown Seoul to denounce Japan.
    Protesters, chanting anti-Japanese slogans and waving their fists, tore up a photograph of Japanese politician Yoshitaka Shindo, one of the four set to visit the island.
    "They plan to visit the place with the mean ambition to forcibly seize the islets, which is obviously a violation on South Korean territory. Accordingly, to allow their entry to South Korea is to give up our sovereignty," protest leader Hwang Hyun-dae said.
    The islands have become a hotbed of disagreement between the two countries.
    Tokyo had told its diplomats to boycott Korean Air following the airline's high-publicity test flight over the disputed territory.
    Demonstrators also protested on Thursday (July 21) over the island dispute by hitting and kicking punchballs plastered with the photos of several Japanese lawmakers.
    The islands, located about the same distance from both countries' mainlands, have been a persistent irritant in ties between the two neighbours.
    South Korea controls the islands with a police presence.
    Korean Air declined to comment on Japan's boycott, but said officials from the Japanese embassy in Seoul visited its offices to discuss the issue.
    There is no data on how often Japanese diplomats use Korean Air, a Japanese foreign ministry official said.
    Japan colonised the Korean peninsula from 1910 through 1945.
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