S Korea's Lee orders stern response to Japan over isles

Tuesday 15th July, 06:08 AM JST

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tclh at 03:52 PM JST - 15th July

SK just has to teach their children that those islands belong to them but still in dispute with Japan because Japan claims the same...no need to scream its head off!That will be square.In this matter, co-operation is the way to go,but its mine all mine attitude will cause a lots of harm.
NagoyaGaijin at 04:01 PM JST - 15th July

There is an even better way to resolve this. . . Good, old fashioned. . . Rock, Paper, Scissors (JAN KEN PON..or would that be JAN KEN PWNED?)
chardk1 at 04:04 PM JST - 15th July

Accepting that Japan could be less heavy handed in its dealings with Korea, I think Korea is going in a weird and distressing hate spiral that is not about anything any other country is "doing" to it.

Korea just shoots itself in the foot with its self-serving rhetoric. By calling what is clearly in dispute a "historical fact," it gives Japanese conservatives liberty to challenge all kinds of historical events and say "hey, the Koreans have no credibility, they call anything on their agenda an undisputed fact." Which is precisely what is going on and is working to move the Japanese public opinion to the right as to Korea. And the Koreans have nobody really to blame but themselves for that. Forget who was originally wrong, when you are always hating on someone how long can you play the blame card until the other side decides screw it, they don't like you that much either?

By continually taking this "U.S. is 100% bad, Japan is 100% bad, Korea is 100% good" fantasy approach to foreign relations with - for crying out loud -- ITS MOST IMPORTANT ALLIES AND TRADING PARTNERS, Korea is only diminishing its own status in the world community. I am embarrassed for this country for which I have great fondness but even greater exasperation.
Altria at 04:05 PM JST - 15th July

Yeah, the problem is they're both just gonna keep on choosing ROCK.
wilbur at 04:42 PM JST - 15th July

Lee and fukuda should settle it like real men...in a ring, 3-minute rounds, first one knocked down 3 times loses
blvtzpk at 04:55 PM JST - 15th July

Anyhow, as I predicted, the South Korean tourist shot was just a simple diversion, no big deal, and as proof the SK government is gearing up for another Japan attack fest with this latest brouhoura.

Wow! That geopolitics course really paid off! Congrats on the indepth insights!
JoeBigs at 09:00 PM JST - 15th July

This is the lamest reason for claiming Japanese sovergnity to those islands I have heard. Please do more research if you're going to take a position of the subject.

Since you are so good at history, correct me if I am wrong.....The claims of Korean ownership of these Island goes back to a reference to islands off the coast of Korea called Usan-do. These claims come from some ancient text speaking of an island. So the Koreans claim that the Islands must be Takeshima Islands.

But of course Koreans are not really sure, and as the Japanese point that they could in fact be Ulleungdo Island. But of course this would be to logical so they have to be Takeshima Islands instead.....

Now tell me about the great Korean fleets that sailed the open oceans all those years ago.......

Let us see the Ulleungdo Island are 75 miles off the coast of Korea while the Takeshima Islands are 200 miles off the coast of Korea....Hmmm now which one of these islands could be those fabled islands referenced in your text? Yes your right it must be the Takeshima Islands...
rajakumar at 10:43 PM JST - 15th July

Again tiny isles issues come in to bother south korea/japan business. Focus on korea-japan trade more, than not on tiny isles. Booming trade between japan-south korea-russia, should precede tiny isles woes.
OssanULTRA at 12:05 AM JST - 16th July

"I love this country. You can just change history in textbooks and then that's the way it is."

I agree. South Korea still has a long way to go.
yosun at 12:46 AM JST - 16th July

Both Japan and Korea keep talking about the island their own way and that does not help anything except lift someones' personal domestic supporting rate.....
London at 07:45 PM JST - 16th July

Many comments here are made about how surprising it is to see SK behave so passionately about this matter. But, think about it. Wouldn't Japan also be reacting furiously and passionately if another country claim one of our islets as theirs? And decide to teach their children that way? I can understand why they react so angrily.
bibric at 10:09 PM JST - 16th July

It seems to me that there must be Lee-Fukuda secret treaty on the Dakeshima issue. Lee is attempting to avert the Korean attention on the American beef issue, and Fukuda is really craving to construct the Korea-Japan tunnel.

The most innocent victims in this heated issue are Korean and Japanese people.

Sooner or later, the political leaders would be seriously revenged.
rajakumar at 04:52 AM JST - 18th July

Get more land/realty by building more japanese and south korean plants in many other nations.

What's the big deal over tiny isles issue.

Not exactly planting seeds of abundance in any issues.
wrongright at 02:57 AM JST - 19th July

Regardless of the bottom line, the SKs will stand adament to their point and same for the Japanese; therefore, individuals' judgements are pretty bias in the sense that people will leaning towawrds their heritage whether it's right or wrong... it's sad that we can't get to the bottom of this matter. what it comes down to is the greed of dominance and control! "politics = poison"
ecodrive at 02:23 AM JST - 21st July

What does Japan have to risk in waging a territorial dispute against Korea? Absolutely nothing. No dispute, No negotiation or no discussion should be accepted by Korea. Japan's juvenile whining will only get louder. Japan must grow up.