当前位置: Language Tips> 双语新闻

韩日岛屿争端引发“退信”风波

Japan, S.Korea play hot potato with protest note

中国日报网 2012-08-24 15:40

分享到

 
韩日岛屿争端引发“退信”风波

Lee paid a surprise August 10 visit to the Seoul-controlled islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan.

Get Flash Player

Japan on Thursday refused to take back a letter sent by its own prime minister after Seoul said it would not accept delivery of the note, as a row over islands threatened to descend into diplomatic farce.

It was the latest move in an increasingly bitter tit-for-tat dispute that has engulfed two of Asia's largest economies for nearly two weeks.

South Korea said earlier in the day it would return the protest from Yoshihiko Noda without answering it, for fear any move to acknowledge the missive would bolster Tokyo's claim to islands that both sides say they own.

That sparked an angry response from Tokyo, which accused its neighbour of contravening diplomatic norms.

"Under usual protocol, it is inconceivable that letters exchanged between leaders are sent back," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, the government's top spokesman, told a news conference.

"I hope (South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak) will accept the letter, which was sent to deliver our prime minister's thoughts."

The letter to Lee has not even made it to Seoul, having been kept at the South's embassy in Tokyo, foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Young said, announcing the intention to hand the note back.

But in what was beginning to look like a real live game of hot potato, the Japanese foreign ministry turned away a South Korean diplomat, believed to have been carrying Noda's letter, at the gate of the ministry building, NHK footage showed.

"I'm sorry to say this, but returning a diplomatic letter is below even being childish," Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi said at a press conference.

The letter was subsequently put in the post, registered delivery, a spokesman at the foreign ministry in Seoul said.

Despite their strong economic ties, the two countries have a frequently uneasy relationship, in which historical animosities constantly play in the background.

That relationship has sharply worsened since Lee paid a surprise August 10 visit to the Seoul-controlled islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japan.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

点击查看更多双语新闻

(Agencies)

韩日两国的岛屿争端近日引发外交风波。日本首相野田佳彦致韩国总统李明博的亲笔信被韩国退回,但退信遭到日本拒收。

这场针锋相对的风波愈演愈烈,亚洲两大经济体韩国和日本卷入这场风波已有近两周时间。

韩国当天早些时候表示,会退回日本首相的亲笔信,不会给予回复,因为担心任何承认这封信函的举动都会被认为是支持日本独占独岛(日本称竹岛)的主张。韩日双方都主张该岛主权归本国所有。

日本方面对韩国的举动非常恼火,指责韩国违反外交惯例。

日本政府首席发言人、内阁官房长官藤村修当天在记者会上说:“从外交惯例上看,退回首脑之间亲笔信这种事情是不可思议的。”

“我希望韩国总统李明博会接受这封信,日本首相写这封信是为了表达自己的想法。”

韩国外交部发言人赵泰永说,这封信甚至没有送到首尔,一直保存在韩国驻东京大使馆。他还表示要把这封信退回。

但韩日双方就像玩起了烫手山芋游戏。日本广播公司的视频显示,韩国外交官前往日本外务省退信时,被日本外务省拒之门外。

日本外务省副大臣山口壮在新闻发布会上说:“很遗憾地说,退回外交信函这种做法太幼稚了。”

韩国外交部一位发言人说,将采用邮寄挂号信的方式退回信件。

尽管韩日双方经贸来往密切,但关系时常陷入紧张局面,历史原因导致的敌意是出现这种情况的主因。

在韩国总统李明博8月10日突然到访韩国控制的独岛(日本称为竹岛)后,两国关系急剧恶化。

相关阅读

韩国球员伦敦赛场上打政治标语被禁领奖

全球十大美女城市揭晓 亚洲仅首尔入选

普京黑海豪华别墅曝光 造价10亿美元

伦敦奥运朝鲜女足错配韩国国旗

韩国自杀率居高不下 当局加强网络监察

韩国人结婚需备20万美金 房子彩礼是大头

1/5韩国女性曾整容 专家揭整容根源

(中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑:陈丹妮)

Vocabulary:

tit-for-tat: 针锋相对,以牙还牙

hot potato: 烫手山芋,比喻棘手的问题

 

分享到

中国日报网英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“中国日报网英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883561联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。

中国日报网双语新闻

扫描左侧二维码

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我们这儿都有!

中国日报双语手机报

点击左侧图标查看订阅方式

中国首份双语手机报
学英语看资讯一个都不能少!

关注和订阅

本文相关阅读
人气排行
热搜词
 
 
精华栏目
 

阅读

词汇

视听

翻译

口语

合作

 

关于我们 | 联系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版权声明:本网站所刊登的中国日报网英语点津内容,版权属中国日报网所有,未经协议授权,禁止下载使用。 欢迎愿意与本网站合作的单位或个人与我们联系。

电话:8610-84883645

传真:8610-84883500

Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn