Ban stresses dialogue to resolve Japan-S Korea territorial disputes

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday stressed the need for dialogue between Seoul and Tokyo to resolve Japan’s claim to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo. Diplomatic tensions between Seoul and Tokyo have heightened over the rocky outcroppings in the East Sea, following the unprecedented visit by South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak there last Friday, according to South Korea’s (Yonhap) News Agency. “I am well aware of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, as well as the (Dokdo) issue that South Koreans have high interest in,” Ban told reporters in Seoul. Asked for his assessment of inter-Korean relations, Ban expressed anxiety over the stalled current situation, as the “peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula have a huge effect on the regional circumstances.” Relations between the two Koreas have been at one of the worst levels in decades after South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak took office in early 2008 with a hard-line approach to Pyongyang. “I’ve been thinking in my role as UN chief on how to create an opportunity to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and help them reconcile,” Ban said. “The key is to have dialogue between the two Koreas and expand exchanges and cooperation.” The UN chief also expressed deep concerns over humanitarian crises in the communist North, vowing to expand support. “The UN has paid close attention to health issues of the North’s children and damage by recent flood, and has been making humanitarian assistance. We will expand such efforts down the road,” he said. Tropical storms and subsequent floods swept through the North in July, leaving at least 88 people dead and more than 60,000 homeless as well as destroying farmland, according to the World Food Program.