(Updated) Japanese claim ownership of the Liancourt Dok-shimas

According to Yonhap News, the Japanese cabinet, in their annual defense white paper, has claimed the Liancourt Dok-shimas as part of Japanese territory.
Hopefully, it won’t cause a repeat of these kinds of behaviors.

Overwhelmed by fury, protesters have sliced off fingers, set themselves on fire, and in one case committed suicide by jumping off a bridge.

Edit/Update:

Seoul is not amused.

“The government will deal sternly with any attempts to infringe upon our sovereignty over Dokdo,” ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.

The defense ministry issued a statement, saying, “We sternly oppose Japan’s description of Dokdo as part of Japanese territory and demand an immediate correction by the Japanese government.”

“We stress once again that we won’t accept Japan’s claim to Dokdo, which is clearly Korean territory in terms of history, geography and international laws,” the ministry said.

It urged Tokyo to clearly recognize that the repeated claims would only get in the way of the two countries’ bid to develop their relationship into that of a future-oriented partnership.

One has to wonder why neither Tokyo nor Seoul have decided to take this to a third party, such as international tribunal, to settle.