Defense white paper "Japan is a neighboring country"... Call irrelevant, unusual'backlash'

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Yesterday (2nd), the Japanese government unprecedentedly opposed the defense white paper published by the Korean government.

We even called an official at our embassy in Japan to protest, and what kind of content Japan reacts so sensitively, Correspondent Yoo Seong-jae from Tokyo reports.

<Reporter> The

2020 edition of the Defense White Paper, published on a biennial basis, summarizes the security situation on the Korean peninsula, expressing Japan by lowering its price from'companion' to'neighbor'.

In particular, he described that the Korean-Japanese defense relations suffered difficulties due to the successive provocations of Dokdo by Japanese politicians and the close flight of Japanese patrol aircraft in 2018.

The Japanese government yesterday expressed its will.

Japan's defense ministry officials called the Korean embassy in Japan and said, "It is unacceptable for Japan," and "very sorry".

It is quite unusual for the Japanese government to express dissatisfaction with the defense white paper so outright.

Japanese media analyzed that the relegation of the expression of Japan from ``companion'' to ``neighbor country'' in the 2020 Defense White Paper is a side against Japan's defense white paper released last year.

At that time, the white paper on the defense of the Korean government was encouraging controversy over disparaging Korea by deleting the existing phrase, “Promoting defense cooperation in a wide range of fields with Korea.”

Also, the Japanese private broadcaster NTV said that South Korea's defense white paper did not describe North Korea as'enemy' as it did two years ago, and that it appears to be trying to ignite inter-Korean dialogue.