The Japanese government has drawn protests from South Korea by reopening a controversial museum that reiterates its territorial claims over disputed areas such as Dokdo.  

The National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty in Tokyo opened again Friday, featuring exhibits that purport to establish Japan’s sovereignty over South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo and other lands controlled by neighboring countries.

The facility, which first opened in 2018 and underwent expansion in 2020, had closed for remodeling. 

The foreign ministry in Seoul immediately issued a statement expressing deep regret, stressing that Tokyo has ignored Seoul’s repeated calls to close the museum since 2018. 

The ministry again asked Japan to immediately shut it down, saying Seoul strongly protests its reopening. 

Later in the day, the ministry summoned Yoshiyasu Iseki, acting minister at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to convey Seoul’s protest. 

The museum also asserts Japan’s territorial claims over the Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China, and the “four islands,” which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories.