A Korean version of a Japanese Foreign Ministry document claiming the Dokdo islets belong to Japan.

The controversial document, entitled "10 Issues of Takeshima", is available in English, Korean and Japanese in a section called "The Issue of Takeshima" on the ministry's official website (http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/ area/takeshima).

Dated February 2008, the document claims that Takeshima is "clearly" Japanese territory from the standpoint of both history and international law. It says South Korea is illegally occupying the islands, against which Japan has been consistently protesting.

The document outlines 10 reasons why the islands belong to Japan. It claims that Japan used the islands as a fishing base and anchorage en route to Ulleung Island and thus "established its sovereignty over Takeshima by the mid 17th century at the very latest."

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it posted the document to its website in February, but that it has been operating the web page publicizing Takeshima as Japanese territory for some time.

A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said, "We issued a protest immediately after the Japanese Foreign Ministry posted the controversial document to its web page. Japan has not yet taken any action to correct or revise it."

The South Korean Foreign Ministry issued another protest recently and held a meeting presided over by a vice minister to discuss measures. But some officials, both within and outside of the Foreign Ministry, accused the ministry of taking a passive and lukewarm stance on the issue. They found fault with the ministry's failure to aggressively address the issue, which became known in February, and reveal it to the public earlier.

(englishnews@chosun.com )