¡¡¡¡BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The South Korean government has expressed deep regret over Japan's renewed claim to a small group of islets at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute. Seoul's Yonhap News agency reported that Japan's Cabinet had approved an annual foreign policy report on Friday, which renewed Tokyo's territorial claim.

¡¡¡¡Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.

¡¡¡¡Tokyo announced on Friday in its "2012 Diplomatic Bluebook" that the disputed islets belong to Japan despite currently being administered by South Korea.

¡¡¡¡Seoul's Foreign Ministry immediately issued a protest statement demanding Tokyo withdraw the claim.

¡¡¡¡Cho Byung-Jae, spokesman of S. Korean Foreign Ministry, said,"We express our deep regret regarding the Japanese government's act of making an unfair announcement about Dokdo via the Diplomatic Bluebook. We will not accept any attempts to challenge our territorial sovereignty. We exercise complete territorial sovereignty over Dokdo. Whatever Japan says, it is meaningless. Japan must realise such facts and must stop making reckless statements."

¡¡¡¡The South Korean foreign ministry summoned the Political Councilor at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Friday to convey its protest to the Japanese government.

¡¡¡¡Japan's national broadcaster, NHK, reported that the policy paper stipulated that "based on historic facts and international laws, the Japanese government constantly holds its position that Takeshima is the original territory of Japan."

¡¡¡¡The paper also recommended the Japanese government use diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute with South Korea peacefully.

¡¡¡¡The islands, located about the same distance from the mainlands of both countries, are a thorny issue in ties between the two neighbours.

¡¡¡¡Japan's Bluebook also criticized the DPRK for its 'violation of UN Security Council Resolutions to continue uranium enrichment and missile research'. It also claimed that Japan will intensify cooperation with the United States and South Korea to urge actions by the DPRK for realizing denuclearization.

¡¡¡¡(Source: CNTV.cn)