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The Japanese government can’t say it enough: Takeshima is ours. Senkaku is ours. And the Northern Territories are ours too! The territorial claims–which challenge those of South Korea, China and Russia, respectively–have been repeated like a broken record on nearly a daily basis. Domestic news organizations have devoted considerable ink and airtime to them as the tensions have brewed with neighbors. But in case you’ve been living under a rock during the last month, Japan has launched a blitz of media ads this week to drive the message home. About 70 domestic newspapers will carry ads this week reasserting Japan’s...

Russian Defense Ministry lukewarm on South Korean warship deal The Russian Defense Ministry has effectively dismissed the idea of buying a South Korean warship in place of a French Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, a Russian business daily reported on Thursday. According to Kommersant, the United Shipbuilding Corporation proposed the purchase of a $650 million Dokdo helicopter carrier from South Korea. In a letter to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, USC CEO Roman Trotsenko said his corporation could buy a license to build a Dokdo-class ship at a Russian shipyard within three years. The Defense Ministry is skeptical about the ability of...

Tuesday April 25, 6:06 PM Koizumi says China, S. Korea will regret not holding summit talks (Kyodo) _ Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he thinks China and South Korea will come to regret their refusal to hold summit talks with Japan, as a result of his visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine. "There must come a time when they will regret they have said they do not want to hold summit talks due to this issue," Koizumi told reporters, reiterating that he "cannot understand" the positions of Beijing and Seoul. The premier made the remarks when asked on the...

Stakes Rise in Japan-S. Korea Island Flap By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 55 minutes ago Japan defied South Korean protests Wednesday and dispatched two ships to begin a maritime survey near disputed islets between the two nations, raising the stakes in the territorial standoff. South Korea earlier had dispatched a flotilla of patrol boats to guard the territory, held by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo. Two Japanese survey vessels left Sakaiminato on Wednesday, headed for the islands, said Yuzuru Kubota, a coast guard official in the port city on Japan's west coast. But he said the ships...

Friday April 14, 8:23 PM 3RD LD: Seoul demands Tokyo cancel survey near disputed islets (Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING QUOTES FROM S. KOREAN FOREIGN AND TRADE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN, VICE MINISTER) South Korea on Friday demanded that Japan cancel a planned maritime survey near South Korean-administered islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. "Japan will have to immediately retract its illicit plan masquerading as a survey," Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu Ho said in a statement, according to Yonhap News Agency. Choo said South Korea will take all necessary measures against a premeditated provocation by...

Navy to Launch Region's Biggest Troop Landing Ship The Navy will launch Korea's first LPX-class ship equipped with a flight deck like a light aircraft carrier. The Dokdo, named amid the patriotic fervor surrounding a recent spat with Japan over Korea’s islets in the East Sea, will be used in a wide range of activities including UN peacekeeping operations and disaster relief. It opens new areas of operation for the Navy as Korea looks to more independent defense capabilities. With a displacement of 13,000 tons the Dokdo will not only be the largest vessel in the Korean Navy but...

Island dispute splits Tokyo, Seoul Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Posted: 10:04 PM EST (0304 GMT) South Koreans protest outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul. TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese provincial assembly voted Wednesday to assert Japan's territorial claim over a cluster of South Korean-held islands, raising the stakes in a dispute that has strained relations between the two countries. The Shimane Prefectural Assembly approved a measure making February 22 "Takeshima Day" to celebrate Tokyo's claim of sovereignty over volcanic islets known in Korean as Dokdo, said assembly official Miho Fukushiro. The outcroppings are surrounded by rich fishing waters. Passions...