South Korea protests Japan's stance on disputed islands

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SEOUL, Dec 25 (AFP): South Korea protested Friday about Japan's reasserted claim in an educational handbook to islands controlled by Seoul, saying it could damage efforts to improve relations.
Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan summoned ambassador Toshinori Shigeie and "expressed worries and regret over Japan's move," a ministry official told Yonhap news agency.
The handbook released earlier in the day calls for high school teachers to tell pupils that Japan is locked in a territorial dispute with South Korea.
It does not name the tiny island chain in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
The handbook says teachers "need to deepen the understanding on territorial issues by providing accurate information based on the Japanese government's proper claim and their study at junior high school".
Japanese guidelines for junior high schools say students should have a "deeper understanding" of Tokyo's claim over the islets.
"The revision of the educational guidelines for high school textbooks injects a wrong perception about territory into Japan's future generation," foreign ministry spokesman Moon Tae-Young said in a statement.
He described the move as regrettable, saying it may negatively influence the development of future-oriented relations.
Japan claimed the islands in 1905 and went on to annex the Korean peninsula from 1910 until its World War II defeat in 1945. South Korea says its ownership dates back centuries.