The Japanese government has strongly protested following Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit on the 13th to the Kuril Islands, a territory over which both countries claim sovereignty, marking his first-ever visit to the islands.

During a press conference held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence that day, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated, "The Northern Territories are inherently Japanese territory, both historically and under international law, and we strongly protest this visit."

Japan refers to the four islands located north of Hokkaido and at the southern end of Russia's Kuril Islands—Kunashiri, Iturup, Shikotan, and Habomai—as the Northern Territories, and has been locked in a sovereignty dispute with Russia over them.

According to Russian state-run TASS news agency and AFP, President Putin, who is currently touring the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, visited the Kuril Islands on this day to inspect the flagship of the Russian Pacific Fleet and receive a training report.

He subsequently held a meeting with Valery Limarenko, governor of the Sakhalin Region, before visiting a seafood processing plant, a hospital, and a school on Iturup Island.

Prime Minister Takaichi noted that after President Putin expressed an intention to visit the Northern Territories in 2024, the Japanese government had requested that he refrain from doing so, but those requests went unheeded, adding, "We hope Russia takes the gravity of this situation seriously."

She stated, "President Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands hurts the feelings of the Japanese people and makes the recovery of mid- to long-term bilateral relations difficult," adding that Japan will firmly review its future response toward Russia.

Prime Minister Takaichi also mentioned that amid difficult Japan-Russia relations following the war in Ukraine, "Japan has made every possible effort."

Prior to the press conference, Prime Minister Takaichi received detailed briefings on President Putin's visit to the Kuril Islands from officials including Keiichi Ichikawa, Secretary-General of the National Security Secretariat.

While Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a close confidant of President Putin, became the first Russian leader to visit the islands in 2010 while serving as president, President Putin himself had not previously visited the region directly.

A Japanese government official told the Yomiuri Shimbun, "We will figure out the true intent behind President Putin's visit [to the Northern Territories] and review our future response."

The newspaper commented that with the Russia-Ukraine war approaching nearly four and a half years, the move appears intended to demonstrate both domestically and internationally Russia's unwavering stance on territorial disputes.

The previous day, during a visit to Yuzno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East near Japan, President Putin publicly expressed dissatisfaction, stating, "Japan failed to properly grasp the root causes of the Ukraine situation and imposed unilateral sanctions against Russia."

Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi sent a message of support to a summit meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" held in Paris, France, for Ukraine's support, expressing her intent to continue supporting Ukraine in coordination with the international community and maintaining sanctions against Russia.

During his visit to Yuzno-Sakhalinsk, President Putin also remarked, "We do not threaten Japan, nor do we make any territorial claims against Japan."

This was a reference to the defense white paper released earlier this month by Prime Minister Takaichi's cabinet—its first since taking office—which expressed concern over the military alignment of Russia, North Korea, and China.

Last month, Prime Minister Takaichi met with descendants of former residents who once lived in the Kuril Islands before being expelled by the Soviet Union, telling them, "Our policy to resolve the issue of the attribution of the Northern Territories and conclude a peace treaty remains unchanged."

Although the Kuril Islands currently have a population of only 20,000, the region is rich in mineral resources such as gold and silver, as well as abundant fishery resources in the surrounding waters.

No Japanese citizens currently reside there, as the former Soviet Union occupied the region in 1945 toward the end of World War II, expelled the Japanese residents, and stationed military forces.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)