The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) accused the Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Monday of engaging in "submissive" diplomacy with Japan by appointing pro-Japan figures to key positions and removing public installations depicting the easternmost islets of Dokdo."Since the start of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, we have seen continued pro-Japan submissive diplomacy and a desperation to erase history," DP floor leader Park Chan-dae said during a supreme council meeting. "On the one hand, the pro-Japan faction is gaining power, while on the other, Dokdo is disappearing, which can hardly be dismissed as a coincidence."Democratic Party floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae (C) speaks during a party supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Aug. 26, 2024. (Yonhap)Democratic Party floor leader Rep. Park Chan-dae (C) speaks during a party supreme council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul on Aug. 26, 2024. (Yonhap)Park was referring to a recent controversy over the appointment of Kim Hyoung-suk as president of the Independence Hall of Korea and revelations that several models of Dokdo had been removed from subway stations and the War Memorial of Korea.Dokdo is a pair of islets in the East Sea that Japan has repeatedly laid claim to.Kim's appointment has drawn fierce protest from an association of independence fighters' descendants, which claim he holds pro-Japan views and thus boycotted a government ceremony marking Aug. 15 Liberation Day."There are concerns that what is left is selling Dokdo," Park said. "Acts of selling our sovereignty and territory, or condoning and accepting it, are an 'anti-state act.'"Park was apparently referring to Yoon's remark during a Cabinet meeting last week that "Anti-state forces that threaten the free democracy are operating covertly in various places."In response, the presidential office said the Dokdo installations were temporarily removed for renewal and denounced the DP for stirring controversy over the islets with "groundless" claims." Dokdo is our territory historically, geographically and under international law," presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon said in a briefing. "It is more concerning that the main opposition party questions (South Korea's) sovereignty over Dokdo, a territory effectively under our control."Source: Yonhap News Agency