South Korea expressed "deep regret" Friday over Japan's foreign policy report that renewed its claim over a set of disputed islets lying halfway between the two countries.

In the latest annual Diplomatic Blue Book, Japan's foreign ministry claims the islets, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, are part of the Japanese territory based on historical facts and international law.

South Korea maintains its effective control over the sparsely inhabited East Sea islets, which it reclaimed after the end of Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula.

"(The government) will not accept any attempt by Japan to infringe upon our sovereignty over Dokdo," Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said in a statement, calling Japan's repeated territorial claims "reckless."

"As long as Japan maintains its distorted historical view and claims Dokdo is its territory, (pledges of) forward-looking bilateral relations will remain empty rhetoric and Japan will not be able to play a responsible role in the international community, "he added.

South Korea considers the recurring territorial disputes as a sign that Japan is not entirely repentant of its colonial past.

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