South Korean lawmakers on Friday released a statement condemning Japan’s latest attempt to lay claim over Korean territory and play down its colonial atrocities.

The lawmakers from the Special Committee on Distortion of History in Northeast Asia adopted a resolution denouncing the Japanese government’s approval of controversial textbooks, which describe the Seoul-controlled islets Dokdo as a part of Japanese territory and that the southern region of the Korean Peninsula was ruled by Japan from the fourth to sixth centuries.

The lawmakers also denounced Japan for publishing official documents to broadcast and shore up their claim.

“We strongly condemn the Japanese government’s series of provocations to infringe upon Korea’s territorial sovereignty and distort ancient history,” lawmakers said in the resolution. “We feel enormously regretful toward Japan’s two-faced attitude: It has talked about enhancing forward-looking friendship while continuing to whitewash history and encroach upon Korean territory.”

The resolution also called for the Korean government to react strongly to the Japanese government. “We urge the (Korean) government to take any diplomatic measures to ensure such mishaps never happen. We should make it clear to the Japanese government.”

The parliamentary resolution came a day after Korea Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo made a stern statement against the Japanese government. He called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s perception of history “regretful,” and warned that such attempts would be judged by history.

Japan approved middle-school textbooks this week with contents of heightened claim over Dokdo. Some of the books embraced the theory of “Imna Nihono-fu,” which claims that the ancient Japanese regime ran a military outpost in the southern part of Korea from the fourth to sixth centuries.

Japan also repeated the claim in its foreign policy book a day later.

The committee’s resolution will be presented at the National Assembly’s general session for approval.

By Yeo Jun-suk jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)