|
Korea and Japan look set for another diplomatic clash over Tokyo¡¯s plan to survey waters near the Dokdo Islets in the East Sea, which have been a bone of territorial contention between the two neighbors for years.
The Japanese government recently notified Seoul that it will conduct a maritime survey between the Korean Peninsula and Japan for possible radiation contamination from nuclear waste dumped by Russia, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday. And while Japan did not reveal when and where it will conduct the survey, it is the first time Tokyo has given Seoul prior notice about a maritime survey plan since it started regular surveys on radiation contamination on the sea in 1995.
Tokyo in April agreed to abandon a hydrographic survey in the area in the face of fierce protests from Korea.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters Japan would need permission if it wants to conduct a survey within Korea¡¯s exclusive economic zone. But that is disputed between the neighbors, and another round of territorial squabbling is expected if Tokyo ignores the demand reasoning that waters near Dokdo are part of its EEZ. The two countries clashed again in July, when Korea pushed ahead with its own sea current survey in the same region.
Tokyo has conducted the radiation surveys in the East Sea every year since Russia revealed that a nuclear submarine dumped nuclear waste near Vladivostok in 1993. But past surveys were no diplomatic hot potato between Korea and Japan before the neighbors clashed over their EEZ and Japan intensified claims to the Dokdo Islets.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
