Japan blinks in island showdown

By Richard Lloyd Parry

Japan showed signs yesterday of retreating from a confrontation with South Korea over a group of rocky islands claimed by both countries.

The Japan Coast Guard blamed “high seas” for a decision to delay the dispatch of two marine survey ships to the Liancourt Rocks — known as Tokto in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese — where a flotilla of South Korean gun vessels lies in wait. Roh Moo Hyun, the South Korean President, accused Japan of reverting to imperialistic behaviour, and the Japanese Ambassador to Seoul was summoned for a dressing-down.

A spokesman for the Japanese Government insisted in Tokyo that its plan was legal and there were reports that a senior diplomat might fly to Seoul today to negotiate a solution.

The islands lie at the centre of rich fishing grounds and, geologists suspect, significant mineral and oil deposits.

blink /bl##k/

＃vi

1a 瞬きする (wink), 目をぱちくりする; 目を細くして見る, 目をぱちくりさせて見る; 見て驚く〈at〉; 《廃》ちらっと見る.

b 〈灯火･星など〉明滅する.

2 見て見ぬふりをする, 見のがす〈at〉.

＃vt

1a 〈目を〉しばたたく; 〈涙を〉まばたきして払う[こらえる] 〈away, back, from〉.

b 〈光を〉明滅させる; 光を明滅させて〈信号〉を送る.

2 見て見ぬふりをする, 無視[黙認]する.

blink the fact #《口》事実[現実]に目をつぶる.

＃n まばたき; 一瞬, 瞬間; きらめき, ちらつき; 《英･スコ》ちらっと見ること; 【気】 →ICEBLINK, →SNOWBLINK; 【気】 →WATER SKY.

on the blink 《口》調子[体調]が悪くて, 不振で; 《俗》病気で, 死んで; #《俗》飲み騒いで, 酔っぱらって.

[Du blinken to shine と BLENCH１の異形 blenk より]

[株式会社研究社　リーダーズ英和辞典第2版]