A South Korean environmental activist wearing a mask of Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga performs during a protest against Japan's decision to discharge Fukushima wastewater into the sea, near the Japanese embassy in Seoul on Friday. Photo: AFP

South Korean's military began annual drills on Tuesday around a set of islands also claimed by Japan, days after planned talks between the two countries' leaders were called off amid a spat over an Olympics map.

Seoul and Tokyo have been at odds over the sovereignty of the islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, which lie about halfway between the neighbors in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

The decades-long territorial row was rekindled after South Korea lodged a protest over a map on the Tokyo Olympics website marking the islands as Japanese territory.

Tokyo rejected Seoul's demand to remove the depiction of the islets in the Olympics map. South Korea asked the International Olympic Committee to mediate the dispute, and some South Korean politicians called for a boycott of the Games.

Relations between the two Asian neighbors have been frosty amid feuds over the islets, trade and the issue of compensation for victims who were forced to work in Japanese firms and military brothels during Japan's colonial rule.

Naval, air and coast guard forces will join the drills which will be staged mostly on the sea with minimal contact between troops due to coronavirus, Seoul's defense ministry said.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency earlier reported Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took issue over the drills and called off planned talks with President Moon Jae-in at the Group of Seven summit in England over the weekend.

Reuters