Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Protests Dokdo Tour

It has been reported that the Japanese government had strongly protested Korea’s Dokdo tour to the Korean government.

It has been reported that the Japanese government had strongly protested against the Korean government over Korean’s Dokdo tour.

Ichiro Aisawa, Japanese vice-minister for foreign affairs, said on March 30 that he regretted that Korean tourists had landed on Dokdo, and that Kenichiro Sasae, head of Japan’s Asian and Oceanic Affairs Bureau, had made a strong protest to the Korean embassy on March 28.

Regarding the matter, an official of the Korean embassy to Japan stated that the protest was not made in writing and that the comments on the Dokdo tour only came while the two sides were delivering their positions on the matter to each other outside an office.

The Korean government refuted, "We can`t accept Japan’s protest over the Korean government’s allowance of Dokdo tours because it is clear that Dokdo is a Korean territory."

Hun-Joo Cho hanscho@donga.com