Korea: no plan for S.Korea-Japan meeting

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Source: CCTV.com | 07-18-2008 08:44

South Korea is reportedly rejecting talks with Japan aimed at smoothing troubled waters over disputed islands. Tokyo is said to have proposed a meeting of foreign ministers at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore this month.

South Korean protesters shout slogans during a protest over Japan''s claims to disputed islands in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul.(AFP)

Foreign ministry officials in Seoul declined to confirm the report, but one says their minister will not meet the Japanese Foreign minister in Singapore.

The South Korean ambassador to Japan, Kwon Chul-hyun, said the diplomatic relationship between the two countries is falling apart over the disputed islands.

The South Korean ambassador to Japan, Kwon Chul-hyun said, "Keeping good a diplomatic relationship is based on trust. Watching trust in the South Korea-Japan relationship being destroyed in relation to this Dokdo issue, I wonder if this means the diplomatic relationship between South Korea and Japan is starting again, like the early period, to go backwards."

Japan recently renewed territorial claims over the desolate islands controlled by South Korea.

Seoul followed up with official complaints and angry protests at Japan's embassy.

Protesters gathered outside the embassy on Thursday and killed pheasants, the national bird of Japan, to condemn Japan's claim.

Oh Kwang-sik, the protester said, "Dokdo is definitely our territory. The Japanese government not only has to change the content of their textbooks that say Dokdo is their land, but also Japan has to stop distorting overall history."

The fight over the islands -- Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese -- has been a persistent irritant between the neighbors.

Editor:Zhang Yue