Seoul: South Korea’s military has conducted defense drills for the Sea of Japan islands at the center of a territorial dispute between the country and Japan, South Korean media reported Friday.

The drills for the defense of the islands, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, were carried out behind closed doors in mid-December, according to the news reports.

Hiroyuki Namazu, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, protested to Kim Jang-hyun, a senior official at the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, saying that the drills were extremely regrettable.

Similarly, Naoki Kumagai, an official at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, filed a strong protest to Seo Min-Jung, director-general for Asian and Pacific affairs at the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

South Korea conducts defense drills for the islands twice a year. The latest drills were the fourth such exercises since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol took office in May 2022.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the latest drills, participated by the country’s navy and maritime police, did not involve landing on the islands, like in the previous round.

An official at South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said that the island defense drills are conducted to accomplish the mission to protect the country’s territories, people and assets.

JIJI Press