Shimane Gov. Nobuyoshi Sumita said Wednesday the prefectural government will send an official mission in May to attend a ceremony in North Kyongsang Province, South Korea, accepting its invitation despite the territorial row between their two countries.
The province has invited Sumita to a ceremony celebrating the opening of the secretariat office of the Association of North East Asia Regional Governments in the province, despite having said it would sever bilateral friendship ties due to the dispute over a South Korea-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan. The islets are called Takeshima in Japan and Tok-do in South Korea.
The province had said it would cut friendship ties with Shimane Prefecture on March 16 when the prefectural assembly enacted an ordinance designating Feb. 22 as "Takeshima Day" -- the day 100 years ago the islets were put under Shimane's jurisdiction by the Meiji government.