Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeaki Matsumoto Lodges a protest against Dr. Kwon Chul-hyun, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Japan

May 25, 2011
Japanese

On Wednesday, May 25, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Minister Takeaki Matsumoto formally lodged a protest against Dr. Kwon Chul-hyun, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Japan, concerning the visits to Takeshima by an ROK Cabinet minister and to Japan's Northern Territories by members of the National Assembly of the ROK.
Foreign Minister Matsumoto strongly protested that the visit to Takeshima by Ms. Paik Hee-young, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, was unacceptable from the perspective of Japan's territorial rights over the island, and thus it was highly regrettable. He strongly requested that such a visit should not be made again.
Regarding the visit by members of the National Assembly of the ROK (i.e. Mr. Kang Chang-il, Mr. Moon Hak-jin and Mr Chang Se-hwan) to Kunashiri Island of the Northern Territories, Minister Matsumoto stated that the Northern Territories are inherent territories of Japan, and any activities by a third country carried out under the presumption that Russia has "jurisdiction" in the Northern Territories, including this visit made by members of the National Assembly of the ROK after obtaining Russian visas, are intolerable from Japan's basic position regarding the Northern Territories. Expressing his deep regret over the incident which had hurt the feelings of the Japanese people, Minister Matsumoto strongly protested against the visit and requested the ROK Government that it take appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of such an incident.
In response, Ambassador Kwon stated the ROK's position on the issue of Takeshima and that he would report to the capital what was expressed at the meeting. He also stated that the visit by the members of the National Assembly of the ROK to the Northern Territories was irrelevant to the position of the ROK Government.

(* This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

(END)

Back to Index