Brazen Claims over Dokdo

On October 25, 1900, the Daehan (Korean) Empire Ordinance 41 proclaims Dokdo as a part of Ullengdo. Upon forcibly taking over the Korean Empire’s diplomatic sovereignty through the Japan-Korea Protocol of 1904 (Aug. 22, 1904) and the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty of 1905 (Eulsa Treaty; Nov. 17, 1905), the Japanese government absorbed Dokdo as one of its territories.

Japan began to make blatant claims over Dokdo again at the onset of the Abe government’s second term. In February 2013, the Abe government dispatched a central government envoy to a “Takeshima (name given to Dokdo by the Japanese) Day” event hosted by the Shinmae Prefecture government. Then in January 2014, the Japanese government launched a web site promoting Japan’s claims of sovereignty over Dokdo.

In February 2015, the Japanese government dispatched Yohei Matsumoto, Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Cabinet Office to Shimane Prefecture’s “Takeshima Day” event, the third consecutive year a central government official has attended the annual event. On April 6, 2015, Japan’s Education Ministry reviewed and approved middle school textbooks that exert Tokyo’s claim over Dokdo. The 18 social studies textbooks containing Japan’s unilateral views that Dokdo is Japan’s “inherent territory” and that “South Korea is an illegal occupier of Dokdo” will be used in middle schools across the nation starting spring of 2016. This means that young students of Korea and Japan will learn about Dokdo differently creating a potential point of contention between the two sides.

2015 Japanese Defense White Paper
2015 Japanese Diplomatic Blue Paper
Japan’s middle school social studies textbook that passed the 2015 review

Seoul continues to protest Japan’s claims over Dokdo through various official channels, emphasizing that Dokdo is Korea’s inherent territory historically, geographically and under international law. Furthermore, the Korean government is firm in its stance that no territorial dispute exists regarding Dokdo and therefore, does not qualify as an issue to be dealt with through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement.

Map of Japan (published by the Japanese Agriculture and Commerce Ministry in 1897)

- An official Japanese government map identifying Dokdo as Korean territory

Illustrated General Survey of the Three Countries (created by Japanese scholar Hayashi Shihei in 1785)

- Marks Dokdo as “Jukdo (Korea’s Possessions)”

Source : KBS NEWS