SOUTH KOREA/AT SEA-JAPAN/DISPUTED ISLANDS: South Korea underscores rejection of Japans disputed islands ICJ proposal.

Record ID: 466651

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA/AT SEA-JAPAN/DISPUTED ISLANDS: South Korea underscores rejection of Japans disputed islands ICJ proposal.
  • Date: 30th August 2012
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AUGUST 30) (REUTERS) OTSUKI WALKING THROUGH LOBBY TOWARDS ELEVATOR VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS OTSUKI COMING OUT OF ELEVATOR AND LEAVING LOBBY
  • Embargoed: 14th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: At Sea, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, Japan
  • City:
  • Country: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Japan At Sea
  • Reuters ID: LVA6W4NT9AXCFNA7BPIQ0C4WMSZ7
  • Story Text: South Korea sends a diplomatic document to Japan, dismissing Japan's proposal to take the issue of disputed islands to the International Court of Justice.


    South Korea sent a diplomatic document to Japan on Thursday (August 30), dismissing Japan's proposal to take the issue of disputed islands to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Korean local media reported.
    The South Korean foreign ministry handed over the document to Councilor Kotaro Otsuki of the Japanese embassy in Seoul on Thursday, and he left the foreign ministry without answering any questions from journalists.
    Japan's cabinet agreed last week to ask South Korea to submit a joint proposal to the ICJ regarding the disputed islands.
    South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said at the time the proposal was not worth considering.
    Japan's proposal would be a largely symbolic move as South Korea's agreement would be necessary to open the case at the ICJ.
    Earlier in this month, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed regret over South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's August 10 visit to the islands and his remarks that Japanese Emperor Akihito should apologise for Japan's colonial rule if he wants to visit South Korea.
    Lee became the first South Korean leader to make the trip to the islands, which have been a persistent irritant in relations between the two countries.
    The islands, called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, lie equidistant from the two mainlands and are believed to contain frozen natural gas deposits potentially worth billions of dollars.
    Japan's ties with South Korea, where resentment over its 1910-45 colonisation of the peninsula remains strong, took a sharp turn for the worse after Lee's visit to the islands earlier this month.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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