Photo/Illutration A curry dish representing the disputed Takeshima islets photographed in the town of Okinoshima, Shimane Prefecture, in 2015 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

SEOUL--A long-simmering territorial row is heating up after Japanese media featured a local curry dish designed to look like the disputed Takeshima islets with a Japanese flag firmly planted on them.

North Korea’s state-run media lashed out at the dish being offered at a Shimane Prefecture restaurant.

In an Oct. 8 commentary posted on the website Uriminzokkiri, North Korea criticized the food for being a “specialty created from the island nation’s ingrained ambition to capture the territory and exercise militarism.”

North Korea claims the Takeshima islets, called Dokdo in Korean, are Korean territory. South Korea now effectively controls those islands, while Japan considers them to be part of Shimane Prefecture.

North Korea’s reaction follows a recent article published by Japanese media about the curry.

“People are stunned at a bizarre specialty recently introduced in Japan,” the commentary said. “The idea is to turn (Dokdo) into rice and eat it in one go. We cannot help but be appalled by the meanness unique to this island nation.”

South Korean media also featured criticisms of the politically charged curry.

The digital version of Dong-A Ilbo, South Korea’s major newspaper, published an article and photos on Oct. 1 with a headline that reads, “Rice that represents Dokdo with Japan’s national flag on it.”

The article quoted a South Korean university professor as saying, “It is a typical cheap trick to raise public awareness that Dokdo is Japan’s territory.”

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