Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 August 22 - 28 [TERRITORIAL ISSUE]

Ex-Foreign Ministry official criticizes PM stance on Takeshima territorial issue

A former Foreign Ministry official criticized Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko’s handling of the territorial dispute with South Korea over Takeshima Island on a TV program aired on August 24, saying, “Diplomacy starts with dialogue.”

He is Kyoto Sangyo University Professor Togo Kazuhiko, the former head of the Treaties Bureau of the Foreign Ministry.

Regarding the government policy of bringing the Takeshima issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Togo stated, “Before appealing to the ICJ, the government has to say to the South Korean government and public as well as the international community that it is offering a proposal to solve this issue through diplomatic negotiations.”

He warned that it is not wise for the prime minister and his cabinet members not to have talks with their South Korean counterparts during the occasion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in September.

All South Korean citizens recognize Japan’s incorporation of Takeshima Island in 1905 as a warm-up for its annexation of Korea in 1910, said Togo. Criticizing Prime Minister Noda’s remark that the issue “should not be discussed in a context of historical awareness,” Togo stressed, “You should not make a tit-for-tat response in diplomacy.”