South Korea conducted regular defense drills near its easternmost islets of Dokdo earlier this week, a military source said Wednesday, in what marked the second such exercise held under President Lee Jae Myung's government.
"Our military has conducted East Sea defense drills on a regular basis each year. This exercise was also implemented to fulfill the mission of protecting our territory, people and property," the source said, confirming that the exercise took place Tuesday.
The latest exercise was held on a similar scale compared with past drills in terms of training methods and participating assets, the source added, without providing further details.
Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between South Korea and Japan as Tokyo continues to make sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.
Japan's foreign ministry said it lodged protests over the latest drills to the South Korean Embassy in Japan and to Seoul's foreign ministry.
Tokyo has previously protested over the regular drills through diplomatic channels.
South Korea has been in effective control of Dokdo, with a small police detachment, since its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
South Korea launched the defense drills in 1986 and has staged them twice a year since 2003. The previous exercise took place in July, which marked the first such exercise held under the current government. (Yonhap)
