TOKYO, July 22: Japan on Tuesday criticised South Korea’s plans to hold military exercises near disputed islands, warning Seoul that the move would stir up tension and further hurt relations.

“Increasing military tension would do no good in the goal of strengthening bilateral relations,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, the government’s spokesman, told a news conference.

He noted that while South Korea stationed maritime police on the disputed islands, it did not regularly post its military there.

“Under such circumstances, both sides should handle the issue cool-headedly, as we have repeatedly been saying,” Machimura said.

The comments came a day after S. Korean Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee said Seoul will hold two major military exercises near disputed islands this year to prepare its armed forces for any provocation by Japan.

The dispute over the islands, called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, flared up again last week when Japan reaffirmed its claim to the islands controlled by South Korea.—AFP