South Korea on Thursday slammed Japan for its repeated territorial claim over a pair of islets, called Dokdo here and Takeshima in Japan, lying halfway between the two countries.
Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that nationalistic Japanese politicians held the so-called "Tokyo rally" once again to lay an "absurd" territorial claim over its "indigenous territory," and they repeated such provocations as sending a senior government official to the rally.
A group of nationalistic cross-party lawmakers of Japan, and officials and fishermen from the Shimane Prefecture attended the meeting held in Tokyo Thursday, aiming on the surface to resolve the territorial dispute with Seoul.
The Japanese government sent Masazumi Gotoda, senior vice minister of the Cabinet Office, to the controversial meeting, causing strong backlash from its neighbor.
The first Tokyo meeting was held in April 2012 when the Democratic Party of Japan was in power. At that time, the Japanese government sent a senior vice foreign minister.
The South Korean foreign ministry said that the Dokdo was the first victim to the imperialistic Japan's occupation of Korea, noting nobody will trust Japan in the international community if Tokyo continues such provocations.
In 1905, the militaristic Japan unilaterally incorporated the islets into the Shimane Prefecture. Korea was colonized by Japan between 1910 and 1945.
South Korea has controlled the rocky outcroppings since 1954 when it stationed border guards there.
The ministry called for the Japanese government to repent of massive damages and sufferings it had inflicted on its neighboring countries in the past and stop laying territorial claims over the Dokdo. Otherwise, improved ties between Seoul and Tokyo will go by far away, said the ministry.