Survey for Japan-Russia Joint Isle Activities Put Off

August 19, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that an on-site survey for planned joint economic activities by Japan and Russia on disputed northwestern Pacific islands has been put off.

Russian officials in charge were unable to reach the islands due to bad weather, the ministry said, explaining the reason for the postponement.

The survey was originally slated to be conducted for five days from Thursday this week.

A Japanese public-private team for the survey, led by Eiichi Hasegawa, special adviser to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left for the islands on Friday, one day later than initially planned, with the delay also caused by unfavorable weather conditions.

The team, which arrived in waters off Kunashiri, one of the islands, on Friday evening, has now headed back to Japan, according to the ministry.

The Japanese and Russian sides will rearrange the schedule for the survey.

The islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The territorial dispute has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities.

Japan and Russia have agreed to conduct joint activities in five areas on and around the islands. The five sectors are aquaculture, greenhouse vegetable cultivation, the development of tours utilizing the islands' features, wind power generation and garbage reduction. Jiji Press