DP lawmaker slams Tokyo's protest over his visit to Dokdo as 'violation of sovereignty'

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap)-- Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the main opposition Democratic Party on Wednesday denounced Japan's protest of his recent visit to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo as a clear violation of the sovereignty.

Jeon paid a visit to Dokdo on Tuesday together with young party members, and Japan's foreign ministry lodged a protest with South Korea's foreign ministry later in the day. Tokyo has long laid claims to the rocky outcroppings in the East Sea.

"This is a clear infringement upon sovereignty and interference in domestic affairs," Jeon said in a Facebook post. "The foreign ministry must immediately lodge a strong protest against the interference in domestic affairs by the Japanese government."

The lawmaker also urged Japan to stop laying claims to Dokdo.

Japan's claims to Dokdo have been one of the long-running thorns in relations between Seoul and Tokyo. South Korea reclaimed sovereignty over Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula when it regained independence from Japan's 35-year colonial rule in 1945.

Jeon's visit came as relations between South Korea and Japan have been warming under an initiative by President Yoon Suk Yeol. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to make a return visit to South Korea on Sunday after Yoon visited Japan in March.

khj@yna.co.kr
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