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SEOUL: South Korea has not yet decided whether to take part in a three-way summit with China and Japan amid a territorial dispute with Tokyo, a senior official said Thursday.
"Nothing has been decided yet. As of today, we have not yet decided whether we should participate or not," the presidential aide told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The dispute is about islands midway between South Korea and Japan called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan. They have long been a flashpoint in relations.
The row flared up again last month when Japan announced new education guidelines reaffirming its claim to the islands, sparking angry protests from South Koreans.
In Tokyo, Japanese foreign ministry officials said they expect the leaders of all three countries to attend the summit.
"I think the meeting will take place somewhere in the middle of September but there has been no final decision," a foreign ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The Yomiuri Shimbun and public broadcaster NHK said it would take place on September 21 in the western Japanese city of Kobe.
Seoul has taken measures to cement its claims to the islands, including a military exercise nearby and a first-ever visit there by a South Korean prime minister.
Its ambassador returned to Japan early this month, three weeks after being recalled in protest over the reaffirmed Japanese claim.
Japan claimed the islands in 1905 after winning a war with Russia. It went on to annex the entire Korean peninsula from 1910 until its defeat in 1945 at the end of World War II.
South Korea says its ownership of the islets dates back centuries.
- AFP/yb
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