The government has called on Japan to immediately withdraw the latest territorial claims in its annual defense paper regarding South Korea's easternmost Dokdo islets in the East Sea.

In a statement by its spokesperson on Friday, Seoul's foreign ministry strongly protested Tokyo's repeated unjust territorial claims over Dokdo, which are "historically, geographically, and by international law" a part of South Korean territory.

Emphasizing that any claim by the Japanese government about the islets will have no effect whatsoever regarding Seoul's sovereignty, the ministry pledged to sternly respond to any form of Tokyo's provocation concerning Dokdo.

It then warned that such unjustified claims will be of no assistance in establishing future-oriented relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

Kim Sang-hoon, the director-general for the ministry's Asian and Pacific affairs, is expected to summon an official from the Japanese Embassy Friday afternoon to lodge a formal complaint.

For the 20th consecutive year, Japan included claims over Dokdo in the 2024 defense white paper, referring to the islets as Takeshima, stating that related territorial issues remain unresolved.