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2ND LD: Seoul urges Tokyo to cancel survey near disputed islets+
(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)SEOUL, April 14_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING TOKYO'S RESPONSE IN 2ND, 9TH-10TH GRAFS)
South Korea asked Japan on Friday to cancel a planned maritime survey near South Korean-administered islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, the Japanese Embassy in Seoul said.
Tokyo dismissed the request, which South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan delivered to Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Shotaro Oshima at the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry.
The Japanese government posted a public notice earlier Friday about its plan to send a survey vessel from the Japan Coast Guard to conduct maritime surveys in the Sea of Japan, which South Korea calls the East Sea.
Yu told Oshima that South Korea demands an immediate halt to the survey, saying the survey area includes South Korea's Exclusive Economic Zone.
In response, the Japanese envoy told Yun the survey will be conducted within Japan's EEZ without violating international maritime law, and called for a "cool-headed" response to the issue.
Oshima added that Japan cannot accept any South Korean action against an official Japanese vessel.
"It is very unfortunate to see Japan planning (such surveys) at a time when (South) Korea-Japan relations remain strained," said a South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry official on condition of anonymity.
At his official residence in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said, "I understand that it is within Japan's EEZ. Both sides should deal with the matter in a cool-headed manner."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the Japanese government's top spokesman, said any South Korean action against the survey would be "unacceptable," as Tokyo believes its plan "poses no problems in light of international law."
Relations between Japan and South Korea have deteriorated since the prefectural assembly of Shimane, western Japan, passed an ordinance March 16 last year designating Feb. 22 as "Takeshima Day."
The Shimane government says the ordinance was intended to raise awareness among the Japanese public about the Feb. 22, 1905, issuance of a prefectural notice that declared the islets part of Shimane.
South Korea regards the islets as part of its North Gyeongsang Province.
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