1. The Japanese government once again repeated its provocation over Dokdo on April 6 by approving middle school textbooks that contain unjustifiable claims in stronger terms to Dokdo -- unequivocally an integral part of the territory of the Republic of Korea in terms of history, geography and international law -- and describe hard historical facts in a way that they are distorted, understated and/or omitted.

2. Repeated moves by the Japanese government to instill into the country’s growing generations a distorted historical view as well as the erroneous territorial perspective based on it are tantamount to conveying its intent to repeat its past wrongdoings. Furthermore, they demonstrate Japan’s unwillingness to act responsibly while winning trust as the ROK’s neighboring country.

3. The Government of the Republic of Korea urges that in the significant year of 2015 marking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations, Japan uphold the spirit of the Miyazawa Statement and the Kono Statement issued in 1982 and 1993, respectively, and make sincere efforts to improve bilateral relations. 


                 Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation