South Korea protests Japan’s repeated territorial claims to islets

South Korea has lodged a formal protest against Japan over renewed territorial claims to the disputed islets known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, criticizing Tokyo’s support for the annual “Takeshima Day” event organized by Shimane Prefecture since 2005. Seoul’s Foreign Ministry stated that the event represents repeated and unjust claims over territory it asserts is historically, geographically, and legally part of South Korea, urging Japan to abolish the observance and abandon what it called groundless assertions. South Korea has maintained effective control of the rocky islets since regaining independence from Japanese colonial rule in 1945 and stations a small police presence there, while many South Koreans view Japan’s claims as a denial of colonial-era history.