Most Japanese High School Texts Say Dokdo is Japanese

Most high school textbooks in Japan now state Tokyo's territorial claim to Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. In the Japanese Education Ministry's latest review of high school texts, 21 out of 39 textbooks state Tokyo's claim over Dokdo.

Three newly added the claims in their latest revision. Yamakawa Shuppansha, Japan's largest publisher of school texts, had previously taken a neutral stance on Dokdo but added the claim in its latest edition. The textbooks that passed the ministry's review will be selected by regional educational committees in July and August this year and be adopted by individual schools next year for use over the next decade.

Seoul warned it would deal firmly with Japan's distortion of history. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the government "strongly protests against the approval by the Japanese government of high school textbooks that justify a distorted historical perspective and glorify Japan's past wrongdoings, and demands fundamental rectification."