S Korea slams Japan's textbook twisting

SEOUL -- South Korea's foreign ministry strongly denounced Japan's plan to twist textbooks on Tuesday, describing the plan as a reminder of Japan's imperialistic past.

The Japanese cabinet is reportedly planning to revise guidelines on school textbooks that will claim the disputed Diaoyu Islands and the Dokdo islets, known as Takeshima in Japan, as its "indigenous territory."   "Japan's move is a very incorrect behavior that is reminiscent of its imperialistic territory ambitions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young told a routine press briefing.

Cho stressed that Dokdo is an indigenous territory of South Korea, saying that it would be paradoxical for Japan to mention improved ties between Seoul and Tokyo while continuing its unreasonable claims on the Dokdo islets.

The spokesman urged Japan to stop such unreasonable claims, warning that Japan should take all responsibilities for any consequences that such move will cause down the road.

Tokyo repeatedly provoked Seoul by claiming its sovereignty over the Dokdo islets. Such claims were expected to make the already frayed ties between the two countries worsened further.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has refused to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since she took office in February last year. Park has cited Japanese leadership' s wrong perception of history.

Japan's cabinet members, including Abe, recently visited the controversial Yasukuni shrine, a symbol of Japan's militaristic past as it enshrines 14 class-A war criminals.