South Korean military drills around disputed island draw Japanese protest

South Korean military drills around disputed island draw Japanese protest. [Photo: Courtesy]

South Korea’s military on Sunday began two days of drills around a tiny island also claimed by Japan, prompting a protest from Tokyo just days after Seoul decided to scrap an intelligence-sharing pact with its neighbor amid worsening relations.

Tokyo and Seoul have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of the group of islets called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean, which lie about halfway between the East Asian neighbors in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.