National News

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's opposition camp stepped up efforts Thursday to condemn Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Ryuichi Doi for signing a document in South Korea that calls for Japan to immediately give up its sovereignty claims over South Korean-controlled islets known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea.

The Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition party, held a joint session Thursday of the party's policy divisions and agreed that Doi's act contradicts the Japanese government's position and cannot be permitted.

Itsunori Onodera, head of the LDP's foreign affairs division, told reporters after the meeting that Doi, if he really signed the document, should step down as chairman of the lower house's Deliberative Council on Political Ethics. Doi's quality as a Diet member is to be questioned, Onodera said.

Earlier Thursday, Doi told DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada that he is stepping down as chairman of the Deliberative Council on Political Ethics to take responsibility over the matter, party lawmakers said.

Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the No. 2 opposition New Komeito party, told a party meeting Thursday that Doi's act was extremely improper and could not be ignored.

Yamaguchi urged Prime Minister and DPJ President Naoto Kan to take responsibility over the matter, noting that Doi belongs to an intra-party group of lawmakers loyal to Kan.

During Diet deliberations Thursday, Kan said Doi's act was "extremely regrettable."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told a morning news conference that the declaration runs counter to the Japanese government and ruling party position that Takeshima is part of Japanese territory.

Doi signed the joint declaration during a one-day visit to South Korea for an exchange among Christian-affiliated lawmakers on Feb. 27, when a memorial event for an independence movement in 1919 against Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula took place.

In Matsue, the capital of Shimane Prefecture, off which the islets are located, Gov. Zembe Mizoguchi said it would be deeply regrettable if Doi really signed a document calling for Japan to give up its claim to the disputed islands.

In a statement, Mizoguchi urged the lawmaker to explain why he took such action.

Japan insists that Takeshima, which consists of two small uninhabited islets and numerous reefs with a total space of 230,000 square meters, is part of Shimane Prefecture, while South Korea claims the islands are part of North Gyeongsang Province.