An aerial picture shows the Dokdo (Takeshima) islets in the East Sea (the Sea of Japan) on July 14, 2008. (KOREA POOL REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT / AFP)
SEOUL – South Korea's foreign ministry on Tuesday expressed deep regret over Japan's history textbooks for high school students.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that the government expresses deep regret over the Japanese government's approval of the high school textbooks which distort historical facts and urged Tokyo to rectify it.
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South Korea restored its sovereignty over the islets after the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonization
It strongly protested against the textbooks that repeated Japan's territorial claims to Dokdo islets that are an inherent South Korean territory historically, geographically and by international law, it said.
Dokdo, called Takeshima in Japan, is a pair of rocky islets lying halfway between the two countries. South Korea restored its sovereignty over the islets after the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonization.
The ministry said the South Korean government expresses strong regret over the Japanese textbooks watering down the coerciveness in the expressions and descriptions about the sexual slavery of Korean women and the forced hard labor of Korean people during the Japanese colonial rule.
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This Feb 21, 2014 file photo shows South Korean students protesting against Japan's Takeshima (known as Dokdo in South Korea) Day during a rally outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. (PARK JIN-HEE / XINHUA)
It urged Japan to provide history education based on the spirit of apology and remorse that some Japanese leaders made in the past, saying Japan should show a more responsible attitude in education and squarely face history.