SEOUL - South Korea on Tuesday protested at Japan's renewed territorial claims to the disputed islets lying halfway between the two countries, called Dokdo by South Korea and Takeshima by Japan.

The South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement that the government strongly protests at the Japanese government's repetition of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the South Korean territory historically, geographically and under international law.

The ministry urged Japan to immediately retract its territorial claims, which were made through Japan's 2025 defense white paper released earlier in the day.

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The statement noted that South Korea makes it clear once again that any claims by the Japanese government over Dokdo neither have nor will have any impact on South Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo, saying that South Korea will firmly respond to any provocation by Japan over Dokdo.

Since 2005, Japan has laid territorial claims to the rocky outcrops every year in the defense white paper.

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South Korea restored its sovereignty over the islets following the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule. Seoul has since been in effective control of Dokdo, with a small police detachment deployed.

South Koreans see Japan's territorial claims to the islets as a denial of colonial history.