RUSSIA has accused Japan of politicizing the Olympic Games after organizers appeared to include some of the disputed southern Kuril Islands on a map of the Torch Relay route.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Maria Zakharova claimed Japan had acted “illegally” by depicting at least three of the islands, which both Moscow and Tokyo lay claim to but, on the map on the official Tokyo 2020 web site.
The four southernmost Kuril Islands—Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and the rocky Habomai islets—are at the heart of a dispute that has spilled over into the Olympic world.
Japan believes the Islands, which the government calls the Northern Territories, belong to Tokyo and has been seeking their return since the end of World War II.
But Russia, which has jurisdiction, claims the southern Kuril Islands—which stretch between the Japanese island of Hokkaido at the southern end and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula at the northern end—belong to Moscow and became part of the country after the war.
It has not been resolved since, with both countries claiming it has ownership of the Islands, inhabited by around 19,400 people.
The Tokyo 2020 Torch Relay for the Olympics is due to visit Hokkaido on June 14 and 15 next year.
“These actions are illegal,” Zakharova said. “Besides the legal side of the matter, [adding the islands to Japan’s Summer Games torch relay map] poisons the atmosphere of addressing complicated issues.”
“Tokyo’s desire to politicize such an important international sports event as the Olympic Games and Japan’s apparent abuse of the role of the host country of the Games meant to promote the unity of the people is deeply regrettable,” she added.
The row follows South Korea lodging an official complaint after a Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay map included disputed islands as Japanese territory.
The map on the official web site for next year’s Games includes the Liancourt Rocks, which are governed by South Korea but claimed by Japan.
Japanese officials have earlier rejected the Korean complaint, which was made through the country’s embassy.
The Rocks appear on the map, used to show the route of the Torch Relay, as a small dot.
They lie in the Sea of Japan in between the two countries and are valuable due to rich fishing waters and natural gas deposits.
South Korean calls the islands Dokdo but in Japan they are known as Takeshima.
Both countries claim historical ties with around 50 people currently living there.
“South Korea, through the Japanese Embassy in South Korea, has lodged a protest on the issue,” Japan’s Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. “Japan told the South Korean side that the protest is not acceptable given that Japan owns Takeshima and given Japan’s position on the Sea of Japan.”
This is not the first time that the dispute has spilled over into the Olympics.
At the Opening Ceremony of Pyeongchang 2018, both South Korea and North Korea marched together behind a unification flag which did not include the islands as part of a map outline.
The islands had appeared on a flag at a practice event with Suga describing this as “unacceptable.”
Earlier this month the islands were the location for a major diplomatic incident after a Russian military plane allegedly entered their airspace.
South Korean jets fired 360 machine-gun rounds in response with Japan saying it also scrambled aircraft.
Russia, carrying out a military exercise with China, has denied violating another nation’s airspace.
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