Seoul on Thursday tried to return to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda the letter he sent to South Korean President Lee Myung Bak to protest recent gestures by Lee deemed acrimonious to bilateral ties, but the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo would not accept it.
Noda's letter condemned Lee's demand that Emperor Akihito apologize for Japan's 1910-1045 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula and Lee's Aug. 10 visit to disputed islets in the Sea of Japan that are controlled by South Korea but have long been claimed by Japan.
The South Korean diplomat sent to return Noda's letter was not allowed entry into the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. Seoul later put the letter in the mail.