Japan protests S. Korea’s use of flag Including Takeshima

February 5, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government has protested against South Korea through diplomatic channels over the use of a flag including Japanese-claimed Sea of Japan islands effectively controlled by Seoul, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Monday.

The unification flag depicting the Korean Peninsula and the islands, called Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, was displayed at the venue of a practice match for the joint women's ice hockey team of North and South Korea against Sweden, held in Incheon, northwestern South Korea, on Sunday.

The inter-Korean team is set to compete in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in South Korea starting this week.

The use of such a flag was "extremely regrettable," Suga told a press conference. "We will continue to strongly demand that South Korea act in an appropriate manner."

Kenji Kanasugi, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, lodged a protest with a senior official at the South Korean embassy in Tokyo. Takeshima is located off Shimane Prefecture, western Japan.

According to the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean government official said Sunday that a decision has been made on a policy of allowing the unification flag including the islands as well as Ulleungdo, another island in the Sea of Japan, to be used by the two Koreas' joint cheering squad and at events organized by civic groups.

In January, the Pyeongchang Games' organizing committee announced that a unification flag that does not include the disputed islands will be used at official events of the International Olympic Committee, including the opening ceremony for the games on Friday this week.

The newspaper reported that officials of the South Korean government and the inter-Korean ice hockey team decided Saturday on the use of the flag including the islands for the training match on Sunday. The flag was prepared by South Korea's ice hockey association, according to the daily. Jiji Press