TOKYO, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lower house lawmaker Hodaka Maruyama on Tuesday claimed that his right to free speech was being impinged by those ardently criticizing him for suggesting that a war between Japan and South Korea would settle a dispute over contested territory.
"I only raised a question, and there is nothing wrong with it in terms of the constitution and law. I won't give in to pressure trying to suppress free speech," Maruyama tweeted.
Maruyama raised a furor on Saturday by tweeting: "Isn't war the only way to get them back?"
His remarks were with reference to a group of islets controlled by South Korea, yet claimed by Japan. The contested islets are known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan.
Maruyama, who belongs to NHK Kara Kokumin Wo Mamoru To (the party to protect the people from NHK), made the remarks following recent defense drills conducted by South Korea and a visit to the disputed islets by South Korean lawmakers.
"What have politicians who are in a position to decide and negotiate done so far?" Maruyama asked.
His question was based on his view that Japan's parliament did little to protest the drills or the lawmakers' visit.
As Maruyama's controversial remarks again hit the headlines, Japan's minister in charge of territorial issues underscored Japan's stance on the issue.
"The government's policy is to continue diplomatic efforts to resolve the territorial issue peacefully based on international law," Mitsuhiro Miyakoshi said.
The long-standing territorial dispute in which both countries claim the islets in the Sea of Japan as their inherent territory, has historically been a significant source of friction between both countries, with bilateral ties souring further recently over wartime and trade issues.
Japanese ruling and opposition lawmakers, however, heavily criticized Maruyama's tweet, which was as inflammatory as recent remarks he made regarding a territorial dispute between Tokyo and Moscow.
Maruyama joined a group of former residents of Kunashiri Island off Hokkaido on May 10-13 under a Japan-Russia visa-free exchange program.
According to the head of the group of former residents, Maruyama asked him while drunk, "Do you think there is any alternative to war to recover the islands?"
The islands at the center of the dispute between Tokyo and Moscow are known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.
The decades-old territorial spat has prevented the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty and hindered diplomatic and trade relations between the two countries.
Maruyama, while at the home of a Russian family on Kunashiri Island on May 11, and having drank more than 10 glasses of cognac, also made remarks such as, "Are those places with neon signs bars? ... Are there women?"
"I will not be arrested because I am immune from arrest," Maruyama said when others tried to prevent him leaving his lodgings.
Following the initial gaffe, Maruyama was kicked out of the the Japan Innovation Party and Japan's lower house of parliament in June passed a rare resolution to urge the lawmaker to decide whether to quit over the highly contentious remarks he made.
