Seoul is protesting Japanese lawmakers who publicly made sovereignty claims over South Korea's Dokdo islets in the East Sea during a rally in Tokyo.

According to diplomatic sources, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry summoned Koichi Mizushima, minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, at 3 p.m. on Wednesday to lodge a formal protest over the incident. 

Earlier in the day, the ministry issued a statement expressing regret over the rally.

The statement also urged Tokyo to acknowledge that a correct historical perspective is a basis for the development of bilateral ties, and demanded it stop its “futile” claims to Dokdo, which is South Korean territory historically, geographically and under international law. 

Japanese media reported Wednesday that a group of politicians held a rally near the National Diet to claim Japan's sovereignty over South Korea's easternmost islets.