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Japan on Monday discloses contents of the annual Defense White Paper, which is expected to contain the ministry's position on Tokyo¡¯s claims to Korea's Dokdo islets. Bilateral relations face another chilly stretch if the white paper denies Korea's dominion over Dokdo after a rift over the Japanese Education Ministry's teaching guidelines for middle school textbooks in July, which also stressed the claim.
A Korean government official on Sunday said, "The Japan's Defense Ministry will on Monday invite military attaches from foreign embassies to brief them on the defense white paper, and will get final approval at the Cabinet meeting slated for Friday."
The defense white paper is a wrap-up of defense issues. Since 2005, the white paper has touched on Dokdo, saying, "The issues of Japanese territory Kuril Islands and Takeshima (the Japanese name for Dokdo) are still pending."
The Korean official said, "We expect this year's edition ¡¦ will carry a similar level of expression as the previous editions, but nobody can rule out that it will make a stronger claim, given the stronger voice of the Japanese Right."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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