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| U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris / Korea Times file |
"The Dokdo drill was part of Seoul's biannual military exercises aimed at protecting its territory, and the government made it clear to Harris that such a public criticism from the U.S. is of no help for us in strengthening our intention," a diplomatic source said, asking for anonymity.
First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Sei-young called in Harris to deliver the complaint that the U.S. State Department called the domestic exercise "not productive" in easing the escalating dispute between Seoul and Tokyo.
It is rare for the South to make public complaints to the U.S. ambassador; but the foreign ministry apparently decided to do so at a time when Washington has repeatedly issues statements criticizing Seoul's recent decision to withdraw from an intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo.
In addition, South Korea remains sensitive on issues regarding the islets, as Japan keeps making territorial claims to Dokdo.
Washington viewed the South Korean Dokdo defense exercise as doing nothing to resolve the Asian countries' feud over trade and history issues.
Relations between South Korea and Japan have plunged to their lowest level in recent weeks after Tokyo decided to remove Seoul from a list of favored trading partners in retaliation to South Korea's Supreme Court rulings last year that ordered Japanese firms to compensate surviving South Korean victims of forced wartime labor at their factories.
Disparaging the apparent retaliatory move, Japan has consistently linked its decision to the country's national security.
Last week, South Korea decided not to extend the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) signed between Seoul and Tokyo in 2016.
The U.S. has since expressed a deep sense of regret over the unexpected announcement, saying it would harm the tightening of the trilateral security alliance among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.
"The South Korean government also expressed concerns that Washington keeps delivering its disappointment (over the GSOMIA nullification) in a repeated and public manner," said the source.
The foreign ministry said Cho underscored that the decision to terminate the GSOMIA had nothing to do with the bilateral security alliance between Seoul and Washington in the meeting with Harris.
