Japan yesterday refused to take back a letter sent by its own prime minister after Seoul said it would not accept delivery of the note, as a row over islands threatened to descend into diplomatic farce.
It was the latest move in an increasingly bitter tit-for-tat dispute that has engulfed the two nations for nearly two weeks.
South Korea said earlier in the day it would return the protest from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda without answering it, for fear any move to acknowledge the missive would bolster Tokyo’s claim to islands that both sides say they own.
Photo: Reuters
That sparked an angry response from Tokyo, which accused its neighbor of contravening diplomatic norms.
“Under usual protocol, it is inconceivable that letters exchanged between leaders are sent back,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, the government’s top spokesman, told a news conference.
“I hope [South Korean President Lee Myung-bak] will accept the letter, which was sent to deliver our prime minister’s thoughts,” he said.
The letter to Lee has not even made it to Seoul, having been kept at the South’s embassy in Tokyo, foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young said, announcing the intention to hand the note back.
However, in what was beginning to look like a real live game of hot potato, the Japanese foreign ministry turned away a South Korean diplomat, believed to have been carrying Noda’s letter, at the gate of the ministry building, NHK footage showed.
“I’m sorry to say this, but returning a diplomatic letter is below even being childish,” Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi said at a press conference.
The letter was subsequently put in the post, registered delivery, a spokesman at the foreign ministry in Seoul said.
Despite their strong economic ties, the two countries have a frequently uneasy relationship, in which historical animosities constantly play in the background.
That relationship has sharply worsened since Lee paid a surprise visit on Aug. 10 to the Seoul-controlled islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan.
He said his trip, the first by a South Korean president, was intended to press Japan to settle grievances left over from its colonial rule in Korea from 1910-1945.
Lee further angered Japan by saying later that Emperor Akihito must sincerely apologize for past excesses should he wish to visit South Korea.
Noda’s letter said Lee’s visit to the islands and his call on the emperor were “regrettable,” Kyodo News said.
Noda upped the ante in Tokyo yesterday, telling lawmakers Lee’s remark “considerably deviates from common sense” and the president “should apologize for and retract it.”
He said Japan was keeping a cool head, but Seoul needed to calm down.
Tokyo, caught on the hop by the island visit, recalled its ambassador to Seoul, canceled a planned visit by its finance minister scheduled for this month and said it would review a foreign exchange swap accord.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is constructing a new counter-stealth radar system on a disputed reef in the South China Sea that would significantly expand its surveillance capabilities in the region, satellite imagery suggests. Analysis by London-based think tank Chatham House suggests China is upgrading its outpost on Triton Island (Jhongjian Island, 中建島) on the southwest corner of the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), building what might be a launching point for an anti-ship missile battery and sophisticated radar system. “By constraining the US ability to operate stealth aircraft, and threaten stealth aircraft, these capabilities in the South China Sea send
HAVANA: Repeated blackouts have left residents of the Cuban capital concerned about food, water supply and the nation’s future, but so far, there have been few protests Maria Elena Cardenas, 76, lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street. “You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city. Cuba’s government has spent the last days attempting to get the island’s national grid functioning after repeated island-wide blackouts. Without power, sleep becomes difficult in the heat, food
Botswana is this week holding a presidential election energized by a campaign by one previous head-of-state to unseat his handpicked successor whose first term has seen rising discontent amid a downturn in the diamond-dependent economy. The charismatic Ian Khama dramatically returned from self-exile six weeks ago determined to undo what he has called a “mistake” in handing over in 2018 to Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, who seeks re-election tomorrow. While he cannot run as president again having served two terms, Khama has worked his influence and standing to support the opposition in the southern African country of 2.6 million people. “The return of
SOUTH CHINA SEA TENSIONS: Beijing’s ‘pronounced aggressiveness’ and ‘misbehavior’ forced countries to band together, the Philippine defense chief said The Philippines is confident in the continuity of US policies in the Asia-Pacific region after the US presidential election, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said, underlining that bilateral relations would remain strong regardless of the outcome. The alliance between the two countries is anchored in shared security goals and a commitment to uphold international law, including in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Teodoro said. “Our support for initiatives, bilaterally and multilaterally ... is bipartisan, aside from the fact that we are operating together on institutional grounds, on foundational grounds,” Teodoro said in an interview. China’s “misbehavior” in the South
RSS