Japan on Tuesday ignored warnings from South Korea and sent a boat to disputed waters to conduct an ocean survey, leading Seoul to put its coast guard on full alert.
TOKYO: Japan on Tuesday ignored warnings from South Korea and sent a boat to disputed waters to conduct an ocean survey, leading Seoul to put its coast guard on full alert.
The ship will take measurements for a map of small islands that are administered by South Korea but claimed by Japan, renewing a feud tied to colonial history that has undermined relations between the neighbours.
The South Korean Coast Guard said 18 patrol ships were deployed around the islets -- called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan -- with a surveillance plane ready to scramble.
“We have been placed on full alert to stop any Japanese vessels from violating our territory," a coast guard spokesman said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun convened a security meeting on Wednesday to discuss countermeasures.
Japan has dismissed protests by South Korea against the survey near the uninhabited islands, arguing that the two countries' economic zones overlap in the area of the study.
The Japanese Coast Guard vessel arrived on Tuesday at the port of Sakaiminato in southeastern Japan on its way to the disputed area, Nippon Television footage showed. It will return to Tokyo on April 26, Kyodo News said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said he expected the ocean survey to be carried out calmly in accordance with international laws.
“We're making preparations,” the government spokesman said. “But I'd like to refrain from making further comments on the time schedule.”
The Japanese Coast Guard also declined to confirm the ship had departed, saying it had previously announced that the marine research mission would take place sometime between April 14 and June 30.
“At this time I wouldn't comment on whether the ship has left Tokyo as we are trying to avoid provoking further South Korean excitement,” Coast Guard spokesman Yoshiichi Shinde said.
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