The China Post reports:
Japan protests South Korean absentee-voting boxes on disputed islets
TOKYO (AP)
Japan on Wednesday objected to absentee voting boxes it said were set up on a set of disputed islets by officials from South Korea as the neighboring country held local elections.

The islets, called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, are currently under South Korea’s control but Japan also claims them and objects to any moves aimed at solidifying South Korean sovereignty over the territory.

The ballot boxes were “unacceptable by any measure, from Japan’s standpoint concerning the territorial rights,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso told a parliamentary committee.

It was not immediately known how many South Koreans, if any, used the islets’ ballot boxes to cast votes, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity, citing ministry protocol.

The only inhabitants of the rocky outcroppings, in an area rich in fish and minerals, are 30 South Korean police stationed there, according to the government in Seoul.

After Tokyo learned that ballot boxes had been set up on the islets, Japan protested about them through its embassy in Seoul on May 23, the Foreign Ministry official said.

No national positions were at stake in Wednesday’s local elections in South Korea, which included races for mayor in the capital, Seoul, and the second-largest city Busan.

Japan and South Korea are scheduled to meet June 12-13 in Tokyo to discuss how to handle their dispute over the islands.

2006/5/31