Japan Likely to Demand Korea to Stop Tourist Ferry for Dokdo

The Japanese government has begun to mount opposition to Korea’s plans for a tourist ferry to Dokdo, a rocky isle in the East Sea, which has been the focus of a territorial dispute between the two countries.

“A ferry for the island, if true, won’t be acceptable,” Yamazaki Masaaki, deputy chief Cabinet secretary, said in an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun on June 16. “It is very regrettable. I will request the Korean government to suspend the plans immediately.”

“We haven’t received an official request yet,” a diplomat at the Korean embassy in Tokyo said on June 16.

The Japanese government is likely to instruct its embassy in Seoul to make a request in writing to the Korean government for the suspension of these plans.

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com