| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
advertisement | ||
Friday June 30, 12:20 PMJapan to respond calmly to S. Korea's survey around disputed isles(Kyodo) _ Japan will respond in a calm and proper manner to South Korea's survey next week on sea currents around a group of rocky islets in the Sea of Japan that is controlled by South Korea and claimed by Japan, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Kazuo Kitagawa said Friday.Kitagawa told a news conference, "Japan will address the matter calmly and properly based upon international arrangements and domestic law." Kitagawa, who oversees the Japan Coast Guard, said, "Our patrol boats are routinely patrolling waters around Takeshima," which is called Dokdo in South Korea. "We will do nothing special but will respond in an ordinary manner." South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday that the country's National Oceanographic Research Institute plans to conduct the sea-current survey around Dokdo from July 3 to 14. The exclusive economic zones respectively claimed by the two nations overlap around the islets. On Thursday, Japan's top government spokesman Shinzo Abe urged South Korea to exercise "self-restraint" over the survey plan. Japan and South Korea became embroiled in a dispute in April when the Japan Coast Guard announced it planned to conduct a marine survey in waters near the islets, drawing strong protests from South Korea. The countries subsequently averted a confrontation in a vice ministerial meeting in Seoul after they reached a compromise. Japan agreed to withdraw its plan to conduct a maritime survey, while South Korea, in turn, agreed to cancel plans to name seafloor topography near the islets at an international conference scheduled for June in Germany. Japan and South Korea held talks June 12-13 on demarcating their exclusive economic zones near the islets but failed to reach agreement. But they agreed to hold the next round of negotiations in September. Japan insists Takeshima, which consists of two small uninhabited islets and numerous reefs with a total space of 230,000 square meters, is part of Shimane Prefecture, while South Korea claims Dokdo is part of North Gyeongsang Province. |
|||
|
2005 Kyodo News © Established 1945. All Rights Reserved.
|