Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said on Thursday that the decision made by the South Korean government to return Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s letter is an unbelievable breach of diplomatic protocol. Fujimura’s remarks came after South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Seoul will return a diplomatic letter from Tokyo condemning South Korean President Lee Myung Bak’s visit to the disputed island of Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean and his remarks regarding Japan’s Emperor. Cho Tai Young, a spokesman for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said it was very natural to return a letter that contains contents that can never be accepted under any circumstances.

Noda said on Thursday that President Lee should retract his recent remarks asking Japanese Emperor Akihito to apologize for Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula if he wants to visit South Korea.