Seoul to review Japan's education guideline over Dokdo

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- Seoul was keeping close tabs on Japan's reported plan
to announce a revised education handbook for high school teachers, which ignited
a diplomatic row between the two countries last year over its claim of
sovereignty over South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, officials said
Thursday.
The two neighboring countries have long been at odds over Dokdo, a pair of rocky
outcroppings in the East Sea. South Korea maintains a small coast guard unit on
the islets in a show of its effective control of Dokdo but Japan has consistently
claimed sovereignty over the territory.
"We're aware that the Japan's Ministry of Education is expected to announce a new
guideline for high schools as early as Friday," a diplomatic source said,
requesting to be unnamed.
Whether it would include a description of Dokdo was unclear at the moment, the
source added.
Despite repeated warnings from Seoul, Japan last year described Dokdo as its
territory in the handbook, dealing a hard blow to the relation between the two
countries.
"We will review appropriate measures after confirming how the issues have been
dealt with in the revised handbook," an official at Seoul's Foreign Ministry
said.
In the latest episode, Japan's cabinet approved its annual defense white paper on
July 17, which claims Dokdo as part of Japan's territory. The document has
claimed Japan's territorial rights to Dokdo since 2005.
Anti-Japanese sentiment still runs high among many South Koreans due to its
colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula between 1910-45. Seoul and Tokyo normalized
diplomatic relations in 1965, which were severed after Japan surrendered
unconditionally to the Allied Forces in August 1945.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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