A map produced by the Japanese government in the late 19th century describes in detail the sphere of Japan’s territory from the Kurile Islands to the Ogasawara Islands, and South Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets are nowhere to be found.

A Japanese man who owns the map says that he decided to take it public to shed light on the historical truth of Japan’s claim to Dokdo.

The Independence Hall of Korea found an old Japanese map that was published in a Japanese geography textbook. In the map, Dokdo was marked as Korea’s territory along with Ulleung Island.

But Dokdo has been described as part of Japan’ territory in Japanese maps since 1905.

It is necessary for South Korea to discover more Japanese maps produced before 1905 to solidify its sovereignty over the Dokdo islets.