US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was left to answer questions of her own. (File)
Washington:
The Japanese Vice Foreign Minister has pulled out of a scheduled press conference with his South Korean and American counterparts in Washington on Wednesday over the territorial dispute between the two countries, a spokesman for the Japanese Embassy said. alliance of America.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was left to answer her questions in the absence of South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong Kun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, with whom she had only met for three hours.
Sherman began by noting that “there are a number of bilateral differences between Japan and South Korea that are continuing to be resolved,” but said the cancellation of the joint press conference was unrelated to the previous trilateral meeting. , which she calls “constructive (and) content.”
Mr. Sherman said.
Japanese Embassy spokesman Masashi Mizobuchi said Tokyo had “strongly protested” on Tuesday to the South Korean police chief’s visit to the disputed islands between the two countries, known as Takeshima in Japan. Copy. The windswept volcanic rock cluster is controlled by Seoul, calling them Dokdo, but is also claimed by Japan.
“In these circumstances, we have decided that holding a joint press conference is not appropriate,” Mizobuchi said in an email.
Choi told reporters in Washington that the Japanese side informed them of its decision not to participate in the press conference shortly before the trilateral talks began.
A spokesman for South Korea’s foreign ministry said he had nothing to add to Choi’s remarks, but Seoul’s position remained unchanged that Dokdo is the country’s territory historically, geographically and legally. international.
Relations between the two nations have also caused friction during the occupation of Korea, including the issue of “comfort women,” Japanese euphemism for most Korean women are forced to do. work in the country’s wartime brothels. The historic dispute has sparked tit-for-tat trade restrictions in recent years.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that National Police Commissioner General Kim Chang-yong’s trip to the island was made in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because of diplomatic sensitivities.
But it was not intended to be made public and became known only when it was accidentally listed on his weekly public schedule, the report said.
According to Yonhap, the visit to the island, led by a small team of South Korean police, is the first visit by the nation’s police chief since 2009.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
