Seoul ′strongly protests′ Japan FM′s territorial claim to Dokdo, calls for retraction

▲ Hirotaka Matsuo, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, arrives at the South Korean foreign ministry in Seoul on Feb, 20, 2026, as Seoul protests the Japanese foreign minister's territorial claim to Dokdo during a parliamentary speech. (Yonhap)

S Korea-Japan-Dokdo

Seoul 'strongly protests' Japan FM's territorial claim to Dokdo, calls for retraction

SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Friday "strongly protested" the Japanese foreign minister's renewed territorial claim to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo and lodged a formal complaint with the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

Japanese Minister Toshimitsu Motegi referred to the islets by their Japanese name, Takeshima, claimed they are part of Japanese territory and vowed a resolute government response during a parliamentary speech earlier in the day.

His remarks continue the territorial claim to Dokdo reiterated annually by former Japanese foreign ministers over the past decade in their parliamentary speeches, rekindling diplomatic friction with Seoul.

"The (South Korean) government strongly protests Japan's reiteration of its unjust territorial claim to Dokdo in the foreign minister's parliamentary speech and urges its immediate retraction," the foreign ministry said in a release.

The ministry said such a claim by Japan has no power to affect South Korea's sovereignty over the islets, pledging to take "resolution action" against such provocations.

"Dokdo is clearly our own territory historically, geographically and under international law and Japan should realize that repeating its unjust claim does not help effort to build future-oriented South Korea-Japan relations," the ministry noted.

Kim Sang-hoon, director general for Asia-Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry, also lodged a complaint as he called in Hirotaka Matsuo, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between South Korea and Japan as Tokyo continues to make sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.

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