Kim Sam-hoon, ambassador to the U.N. expressed his government position to block Japan's United Nations Security Council permanent membership at a meeting with Korean correspondents in New York. ``We do not think Japan has the qualifications to become a U.N. Security Council member, and we will try to make sure it does not become one,'' he added.
Ryu Jin reports, ?Japan has put itself on a collision course with both China and South Korea, as well as North Korea, in recent years as its leaders from time to time provoked its neighboring countries with improper statements and actions, triggering historical and territorial disputes. In particular, Japan has recently created diplomatic friction with South Korea because of a series of attempts by Tokyo to lay claim to Tokto (Dokdo) in the East Sea. A new middle school textbook in Japan further exacerbated tensions as it glorifies the atrocities Japan committed during World War II. "(Source: Ryu Jin, The Korea Times, Apr. 1, 2005)