The Japanese government has released this year's defense white paper, which claims sovereignty over South Korea’s Dokdo islets.

In the paper released Friday, Tokyo's Defense Ministry stated that the territorial dispute over "Takeshima" still remains. Takeshima is the Japanese name for Dokdo.

Japan has consistently included claims over Dokdo in its defense white paper since 2005.

Tokyo was planning to release the paper in late July but delayed the publication to avoid diplomatic friction with South Korea, as August 29th marked the centennial of Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula.