The defense ministry has come under fire for referring to the nation's Dokdo islets as subject to an ongoing territorial dispute in the military's revised textbook on basic mental fortitude education.

In the recently published textbook, the ministry said the regional powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula including China, Russia and Japan, are in sharp conflict that may result in a military clash at any time amid ongoing disputes over the Senkaku Islands, Kuril Islands and Dokdo.

The phrase contradicts Seoul's basic stance that there is no territorial dispute over the South Korea-controlled islets, which Japan has made claims to.

The defense ministry refuted the accusation that the position has shifted, with ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyu explaining that the text simply states that the three neighbors make various territorial claims but does not say that South Korea’s ownership of Dokdo is disputed.

Presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung said President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered an immediate correction and stern countermeasures after chastising those involved in the initial revision.

The ministry then announced plans to collect all the distributed books, pledging a swift audit of the revision process and supplementary steps to publish fact-based texts.