S. Korea urges Japan not to rekindle territorial row

(ATTN: UPDATES with expert's view, report on Ozawa's move in last 6 paras)
By Lee Chi-dong and Tony Chang
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea warned Japan Thursday not to act in a way
that harms their relatively good ties in recent months as Tokyo moves to release
a new education handbook that may describe Dokdo, a set of South Korean-contolled
islets, as its territory.
"(If Japan does so) It will certainly have a negative impact on South Korea-Japan
relations," foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said at a press briefing.
He said that Japan's Education Ministry plans to unveil new educational
guidelines for high school teachers to be used for the coming decade on
Saturday, Christmas Day. It is a national holiday in South Korea but a working
day in Japan.
The existing handbook for geographical teachers does not include specific
comments on Dokdo but the fresh one is expected to define the islets as belonging
to Japan or state that there is a dispute with the neighboring South Korea over
their ownership.
The decision by the Japanese administration led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
is being closely watched not only in South Korea but also in many other Asian
countries, as it is a major test case for the leader's stance on thorny
diplomatic issues in the region. In wordings, Hatomaya has stressed the need for
closer relations among Asian nations under his "fraternity" campaign.
If Japan mentions Dokdo in the upcoming handbook, it would rekindle a decades-old
diplomatic spat between Japan and South Korea over the sovereignty over Dokdo, a
pair of rocky outcroppings in the East Sea, and over how to interpret their shared
history.
South Korea maintains a small coast guard unit on the islets in a show of
effective control of the islets but Japan has consistently claimed sovereignty
over the territory rich in fish and hydrate gas.
Moon said South Korea expected Japan to provide a briefing on the handbook before
announcement reportedly slated for 10 a.m. on Saturday.
"But we have yet to figure out its contents," he said, adding Seoul has
continuously delivered its position to Tokyo through diplomatic channels that
Dokdo is South Korea's territory both historically and geographically as well as
under international law.
He said the government is considering stern measures in case of an unfavorable
description of Dokdo.
"We will be able to tell you about related measures only after seeing the
contents," Moon said.
When Japan's previous administration characterized Dokdo as a disputed territory
like the Kuril Islands in a teaching guidebook for junior high schools last year,
South Korea's foreign ministry issued a strong statement, called in Tokyo's top
envoy here to lodge complaints, and even recalled its ambassador to Japan Kwon
Chul-hyun.
The icy mood in the bilateral relations lasted for months.
If Japan puts such a controversial description again in a school material, it
would apparently deal a serious blow to President Lee Myung-bak's efforts to
improve Seoul-Tokyo ties and may also affect his shuttle summit with Japan's
leader.
Anti-Japanese sentiment still runs high among many South Koreans due to its
colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. Seoul and Tokyo normalized
diplomatic relations in 1965, which were severed after Japan surrendered
unconditionally to the Allied Forces in August 1945.
South Koreans are already upset about Japan's latest decision to pay only 99 yen
(US$1.08) in a welfare pension refund to each of seven South Korean women who
were forced to work during the colonial era.
Tokyo recently sent the funds to each of the seven women, who filed suit against
the Japanese government in 1998 to claim the surrender value of a welfare pension
fund that they paid into while working at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries between
October 1944 and August 1945, according to Japanese media reports earlier this
week.
Experts here said that Hatoyama seems to be feeling political pressure in his
early months in office amid sinking popularity and ahead of key elections next
summer.
Should his government actually adopt a Dokdo description, it would prove that
there is no major difference between the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
and the current opposition Liberal Democratic Party when it comes to their policy
on Dokdo, said Cho Yang-hyun, a researcher at the state-run Institute of Foreign
Affairs and National Security in Seoul. The territorial issue is apparently a
good topic to use politically for gaining the support from conservatives and
promoting national unity to some extent.
"There will be little room for the Hatoyama administration until the House of
Councilors election next July," he said.
The Seoul ministry, meanwhile, refuted a media report that during his trip here
earlier this month, Ichiro Ozawa, secretary-general of the DPJ, notified the
government of Tokyo's plan to describe Dokdo as part of Japan in the guidelines.
"The report is utterly groundless," it said in a press release.
Seoul's foreign ministry has operated a task force on Dokdo led by Vice Foreign
Minister Shin Kak-soo, and the government also has an inter-agency task force
under the Prime Minister's Office.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)