Putin's first visit to disputed island chain draws Japan's ire

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iturup, a Japan-claimed island at the end of the Kuril chain near the island of Hokkaido, Russian media said on Thursday, a day after major naval drills and a missile firing by ally North Korea.

Moscow and Tokyo never signed a formal World War Two peace treaty as the main hurdle was the unresolved territorial dispute over the islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories.

On the trip, which state news agency TASS described as Putin's first in person to the island chain, he visited the Yasny fish-processing plant on Iturup, after overseeing the navy drills in Russia's far east.