Seoul, May 3 (IANS): South Korea's Foreign Ministry has dismissed a protest from Japan over a Seoul lawmaker's recent visit to Dokdo, a set of disputed islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, an official said on Wednesday.

According to Japan's Kyodo News on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo lodged a protest to Seoul over the visit by Jeon Yong-gi of the main opposition Democratic Party to Dokdo earlier that day, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The Seoul Foreign Ministry official said the government "dismissed the unfair claim from Japan through diplomatic channels".

The official added the Ministry reiterated its stance that Dokdo is South Korea's sovereign territory "historically, geographically and under international law".

South Korea has been in effective control of Dokdo, with a small police detachment, since its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.

Although South Korea controls the islets, its sovereignty over them is contested by Japan, while North Korea also claims the territory.