Japan, South Korea’s territorial dispute has diverted US press conference News

The latest debate on the conflict islands arose in a meeting of the three sides of the US, South Korea and Japan, in Washington, DC.

A long-standing conflict territorial claims to the islands The Japanese Sea has diverted a joint conference between U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials in Washington, DC.

The quarterly meeting between the three countries of the U.S. capital was scheduled to end on Wednesday with a press conference with U.S. Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, South Korean Vice Secretary of State Choi Jong-kun and Japanese counterpart Takeo Mori.

However, Sherman only addressed the press, telling reporters, “As has been the case for a long time, there are some bilateral differences between Japan and the Republic of Korea that continue to be resolved.”

“And one of those differences, which has nothing to do with today’s meeting, has led to a change in the format for the usability of today’s press,” he said.

Japan and South Korea later acknowledged that the absence was the result of an ongoing conflict over the islands. Seoul now controls a group of islands called Dokdo. Tokyo, meanwhile, says the islands it calls Takeshima are Japanese lands.

It came after a recent visit to the islands by a South Korean national police chief.

In Washington, DC, a spokesman for the Japanese embassy said the islets are “undoubtedly an inherent part of Japanese territory” and that Tokyo had filed a protest over Seoul’s visit.

“In these situations, we have decided that it is inappropriate to hold a joint press conference,” the spokesperson said.

The South Korean deputy foreign minister later confirmed that his Japanese counterpart had not attended the press conference “on the subject of a visit by our police chief to Dokdora.”

‘Very constructive’

However, Sherman said Wednesday’s three-day meeting was “very constructive,” saying “exactly why the three-party format with the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea is so important and powerful.”

He said the three sides reaffirmed their “shared commitment” to “the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”

He added that Washington, Tokyo and Seoul are “against activities that undermine, destabilize or threaten an international order based on rules” in the Indo-Pacific region and the Taiwan Strait, in a clear reference to China.

There have been relations between Tokyo and Seoul tighten over the decades, as a result of the savage colonial domination of Japan on the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

The tense atmosphere between the two countries remains a challenge for Washington, and it is concerned about the possible consequences of the clashes between two of Asia’s closest allies.