1. The Government of the Republic of Korea deems it deeply deplorable that the Japanese government once again sent a high-level government official to an event held by Japan’s provincial government in provocation over Dokdo on February 22.

2. The repeated moves by the Japanese government over the past three consecutive years are retrogressive actions that deny Japan’s history of aggression on the Korean Peninsula during its imperial era and make the ROK doubt its sincerity toward opening a new chapter in the ROK-Japan relations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations.

3. The Government of the Republic of Korea brings renewed attention of the Japanese government to its position that any provocations over Dokdo, clearly an integral part of the ROK territory in terms of history, geography and international law, are in vain. 


                Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation