Japan denies reports of South Korean president visit, summit during Olympics
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in waits before a meeting with US Vice President Kamala Harris on the White House campus May 21, 2021, in Washington, DC.
Japan on Tuesday denied a media report that South Korean President Moon Jae-In is arranging a visit to Japan timed with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as well as talks with Japanese Prime Minister Suga.
The Blue House is hoping that Moon will hold his first ever talks with Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga during his stay, the Yomiuri daily reported, without citing sources.
"There is no truth to that report," chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference, declining to comment further.
The relationship between South Korea and Japan has soured in recent years due to disputes over war-time history and trade.
Earlier, South Korea had asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pressure Japan to remove a reference to South Korea-controlled islands as Japanese territory on the Tokyo Games website, according to an official with Seoul's Olympic Committee.
The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) sent a letter asking the IOC to 'actively mediate' the dispute, which has sparked outrage and protests in South Korea less than two months out from the start of the Games.
The small islands, called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, have been at the centre of a decades-long territorial dispute between the two countries.
"Dokdo is South Korean territory and political neutrality must be guaranteed at the Games," Kim Bo-young, public relations director of KSOC, said.
"Japan's behavior can be seen as a political action, so we have sent the letter as we believe such action runs counter to the Olympic spirit."
Japan rejected South Korea's protests.
"Takeshima is a territory inherent to Japan in view of historical facts and international laws. We cannot accept South Korean's protest at all," Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said.
Some South Korean officials have pointed out that Seoul removed the disputed islands from a flag featured at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea after Japan complained.
South Korea said, it had summoned Japan's deputy ambassador to 'strongly protest' the map, which sparked uproar in South Korea and prompted some politicians there to call for a boycott of the Games.
Three South Korean students were arrested after burning Japan's 'Rising Sun' flag in a protest outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, while live-streaming the act on YouTube.
The three were detained on charges of violating assembly and demonstration laws, according to media reports.
About a dozen other members of the student group protested against the arrests outside the police station.
"South Korean land is being taken away," shouted one protester with a loudspeaker, according to video posted by the group on social media.
The diplomatic spat is the latest headache for organisers of the Tokyo Games, which is due to take place from July 23 to August 8 after being delayed last year due to the COVID-19pandemic.
Opinion polls show most people in Japan want the global sporting showpiece to be cancelled or postponed again as the country battles a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.
(With inputs from agencies)
