The Japanese government on Tuesday publishes its 2012 defense white paper, which once again repeats its dubious claims to Korea's Dokdo Islets.

Last year's defense white paper said, "The dispute over northern territories and Takeshima [the Japanese name for Dokdo] still remains unresolved," and called these areas Japan's "inherent territory." The new white paper is expected to repeat the same claim.

Seoul is likely to respond more strongly than last year, reflecting souring relations over unresolved issues like the Japanese government's denial of responsibility for sexually enslaving Korean women for the Imperial Army in World War II, and moves in Tokyo to assert the country's right to so-called collective self-defense, as well as brewing trouble over a continental shelf Seoul wants to claim sovereignty over.