South Korea on Saturday rejected remarks made Friday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that Tok-do Island, known as Takeshima in Japan, is a Japanese territory.
Seoul's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said the uninhabited island group in the Sea of Japan belongs to South Korea from legal, geographic and historical standpoints.
Playing down the suggestion that Japan might issue postage stamps featuring the disputed island in a tit-for-tat response to Seoul's plan to do the same, Koizumi said Friday it is better not to take any action that could stir the matter up.
He added, however, that the island is "a Japanese territory" and hoped South Korea would take note of Japan's position on the matter and act accordingly.
"Japan has the intention of developing the Tok-do matter into an international issue to make it subject to bilateral negotiations," Yonhap News Agency quoted a senior ministry official as saying.