South Korea has called in a senior Japanese diplomat after the publication of an annual defence report approved by the Japanese government.
It claims that an island group that belongs to South Korea is Japanese territory.
These are islands that Japan calls Takeshima and are called Dokdo in South Korea. The two countries have been upset about the islands for years.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry is demanding that Japan withdraw the claim and has notified the diplomat, according to local media.
The Japanese defence report says the disagreement over the islands “remains unresolved”.
The same applies in the report to the Kuril Islands, another group of islands of Russia that Japan claims.