Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has announced its new teaching guidelines for high school teachers.

Although the guidelines do not refer to South Korea’s Dokdo islets by name, they do, however, maintain Japan’s sovereignty claim over the disputed territories in the East Sea.

The Japanese ministry said Friday morning that it is necessary to enhance the understanding of territorial issues by dealing with them accurately based on what is learned by the students in middle school and on the position that Japan maintains on the issue.

In July 2008, the Japanese government described Dokdo as part of its territory in teaching guidelines for middle school teachers. Japan said at the time that it was necessary to deepen students’ understanding about Japanese territories and domains by addressing the row between Japan and South Korea over “Takeshima,” which is the name the Japanese use to refer to Dokdo.

The teaching guidelines released Friday did not use the term “Dokdo” as an apparent demonstration of the Japanese government’s commitment to maintaining positive South Korea-Japan relations. Yet the content of the guidelines retains Japan’s territorial claim over the islets and appears to have left the door open for high schools to teach students that the islets are Japanese territory.