SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Territorial and historical disputes between South Korea and Japan exacerbated after a girl statue symbolizing teenage South Korean victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery was erected last month outside a Japanese consulate.
Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday that it was deplorable for the Japanese government to lay unjust claims once again to the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo, called Takeshima in Japan.
The spokesman urged Japan to stop any groundless claims to the Dokdo, which he said is South Korea's indigenous territory. South Korea restored sovereignty to the rocky outcroppings after liberating from the 1910-45 Japanese colonization.
The comments came after Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said putting up any "comfort women" statue in the islets cannot be accepted because Takeshima belongs to his country.
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