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SEOUL (AFP): South Korea will stage a regular military exercise near a disputed island this month amid a renewed territorial claim by Japan, the defence ministry said on Thursday.
The twice-yearly defensive drill near the Seoul- controlled islet in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) will be held in mid-August, a ministry spokesman told AFP without elaborating. The island is called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima by Japan. Seoul on Tuesday voiced "strong protests" at a renewed claim to the island in Tokyo's recent defence white paper, and summoned a senior Japanese diplomat to lodge a complaint. Yonhap news agency said the upcoming drill grouping the navy, army, air force and coastguard would involve some 10 warships plus F-15K fighter jets and other weaponry. The scenario is to repel a foreign ship in waters near Dokdo, it quoted a military source as saying. The rocky island, roughly halfway between the two countries, has been disputed for decades between South Korea and its former colonial ruler Japan. Seoul deploys a small coastguard force on Dokdo. Total Comments :
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