Japan to replace ambassadors
Source: AFP |
August 22, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPAN will shortly replace its ambassadors to China, South Korea and the United States in an unusual simultaneous move amid difficulties in Tokyo's dealings with all three, according to reports.
"The government is due to revamp the line-up to pursue its diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region," public broadcaster NHK said yesterday, citing the planned replacement of Japan's Ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa.
Japanese media has also reported in the past few days the planned replacements of ambassadors in Seoul and Washington.
The government is expected to officially announce the moves after the current session of parliament ends on September 8, Kyodo news agency reported.
The foreign ministry declined to comment on the reports.
Tokyo's territorial row with Beijing flared up after activists from Hong Kong landed on China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
They were followed days later by Japanese nationalists.
Separately, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak visited islets in the Sea of Japan controlled by his country but claimed by Japan, sending relations plunging.
Tokyo's ties with Washington have also stalled over the relocation of a major US military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
Yesterday, South Korea rejected a formal proposal from Japan that the two countries ask the International Court of Justice to settle their long-running islands dispute, officials said. The proposal was made to the South Korean foreign ministry through Japan's embassy in Seoul, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
But in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan immediately dismissed the suggestion, saying it was "not worth consideration."
Kim also told a parliamentary session, even before the diplomatic document about the proposal was sent, that South Korea would take unspecified "stern measures" if Japan continued to raise an "unjustified" issue over the islands.
Lee's visit, with members of his Cabinet, "does not fit with our policy and it is extremely regrettable," Japanese Prime Minister Yohihiko Noda told a meeting with his ministers earlier yesterday.
"We must take a firm stance on this. We must consider possible measures that we may take in the future," he said as he announced that the international court proposal was being made to Seoul.
"The government is due to revamp the line-up to pursue its diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region," public broadcaster NHK said yesterday, citing the planned replacement of Japan's Ambassador to China, Uichiro Niwa.
Japanese media has also reported in the past few days the planned replacements of ambassadors in Seoul and Washington.
The government is expected to officially announce the moves after the current session of parliament ends on September 8, Kyodo news agency reported.
The foreign ministry declined to comment on the reports.
Tokyo's territorial row with Beijing flared up after activists from Hong Kong landed on China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
They were followed days later by Japanese nationalists.
Separately, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak visited islets in the Sea of Japan controlled by his country but claimed by Japan, sending relations plunging.
Tokyo's ties with Washington have also stalled over the relocation of a major US military base on the Japanese island of Okinawa.
Yesterday, South Korea rejected a formal proposal from Japan that the two countries ask the International Court of Justice to settle their long-running islands dispute, officials said. The proposal was made to the South Korean foreign ministry through Japan's embassy in Seoul, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
But in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan immediately dismissed the suggestion, saying it was "not worth consideration."
Kim also told a parliamentary session, even before the diplomatic document about the proposal was sent, that South Korea would take unspecified "stern measures" if Japan continued to raise an "unjustified" issue over the islands.
Lee's visit, with members of his Cabinet, "does not fit with our policy and it is extremely regrettable," Japanese Prime Minister Yohihiko Noda told a meeting with his ministers earlier yesterday.
"We must take a firm stance on this. We must consider possible measures that we may take in the future," he said as he announced that the international court proposal was being made to Seoul.
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