Official: SKorea rejects Japan's proposal for talks amid territory dispute

South Korea will not meet Japan on the sidelines of a regional security forum because of Tokyo's renewed claim over a series of disputed islets between the nations, an official said Thursday.

Japan had offered to hold a bilateral meeting of foreign ministers at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Singapore next week, but South Korea has refused, said a South Korean Foreign Ministry official.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity citing ministry policy, said the decision was taken after Japan said in May that a government teaching manual would refer to Japan's right to the territory.

South Korea and Japan have long been at odds over ownership of the nearly uninhabitable rocky islets located roughly halfway between the countries. The area surrounding the islets is believed to be rich in fish and possible undersea resources.

In an angry response to Japan's teaching manual plans, South Korea temporarily recalled its ambassador to Tokyo and bolstered security around the disputed region.

The discord came as South Korea's new government was pushing to repair ties with Japan, which had in the past soured over Japan's alleged moves to gloss over wartime atrocities.

In April, the two countries held the first full-fledged bilateral summit in three years, restoring the so-called "shuttle diplomacy" suspended after earlier Japanese leaders' repeated pilgrimages to a Tokyo shrine honoring war dead, including convicted World War criminals.

"Personally, I feel lots of things have fallen down," South Korea's ambassador to Japan, Kwon Chul-hyun, told reporters in Seoul.

"It's not long ago that we shook hands with each other to make a fresh start."

Kwon said Tokyo should take "more sincere measures" to address the dispute.

A group of South Korean activists and students have staged daily protests in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul this week. (****)