Tag: Dokdo

Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi is simply restating what has been Japan’s government position for many decades, but this is still a stupid reason to cause tension with an important neighbor. It is even more unwise to bring this issue to the forefront at a time when China is flexing its economic and military might against Japan:

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reiterated on the 9th that “Takeshima (竹島, the name Japan claims for Dokdo) is Japanese territory,” prompting the presidential office to directly refute the claim, stating, “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory historically, geographically, and under international law.”

At the Japanese House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting held that day, Prime Minister Takaichi responded to remarks by Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Takami Yasuhiro, who stated, “Takeshima in Shimane Prefecture remains under illegal occupation by South Korea,” by asserting, “Takeshima is clearly our country’s (Japan’s) inherent territory, both historically and under international law,” and added, “We aim to actively convey messages to ensure accurate understanding of our position both domestically and internationally.”

In response, the presidential office immediately refuted the claim the same day. A source from the presidential office, when asked about the position regarding Prime Minister Takaichi’s remarks, stated, “There is no territorial dispute over Dokdo,” and emphasized, “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory historically, geographically, and under international law.”

This is reportedly the first time since President Lee Jae-myung’s inauguration that the presidential office has taken a strong stance on issues where the two countries are at odds.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Takaichi has consistently asserted that Dokdo belongs to Japan. During the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election on the 27th of last month, she stated, “Wouldn’t it be better for a minister to confidently attend Takeshima Day?” and added, “There is no need to be cautious.” The Japanese government has sent a parliamentary vice-minister, a junior ministerial-level official, to Takeshima Day for 13 consecutive years from 2013 to this year.

Chosun Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but Dokdo is one of the few issues where the Korean right and left will rally around against Japan. Dokdo will never be given up by Korea. Maybe the Dokdo issue needs Trump the peacemaker to settle?

The Dokdo defense drill may have been low key this year, but at some point when the Lee administration needs to provoke anti-Japanese sentiment to obscure some domestic political issue, expect some kind of Dokdo crisis. Even a conservative president has used this tactic. Anyone remember when President Lee Myung-bak tried to pass an information sharing deal with Japan a few years ago and it caused a public outcry and he had to cancel the deal?  It was so bad he had to fly to Dokdo and speak out against Japan to prove he was not a Japanese traitor:

 South Korea conducted regular defense drills near its easternmost islets of Dokdo on Thursday, a military official said, in what marked the first such exercise held under the Lee Jae Myung government.

“The Navy and the Coast Guard conducted the drills in the East Sea,” the official said, stressing they are part of regular drills aimed at defending South Korea’s territory and its people’s properties.

In a similar scope compared with the biannual drills conducted last year, the defense drills did not involve the Marine Corps.

Some of the drills in the past involved fighter jets and landing maneuvers on the islets, but they have taken place in a relatively low-key approach recently.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Meanwhile on Dokdo the Korean military continues to train for an invasion that will never come:

Korea conducted biannual defense drills near its easternmost islets of Dokdo earlier this week, a military source said, in what marked the sixth such exercise held under the current administration.

“The drills took place in the East Sea on Monday,” the source said, emphasizing they are part of regular drills conducted to defend Korea’s territory and its citizens’ properties.

Navy and Coast Guard vessels, as well as Navy aircraft, were mobilized for the latest exercise, the source said, without providing further details.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I have to imagine that even the Japanese diplomats in Seoul must get tired of having to justify the Japanese position on Dokdo. The islets are clearly Korean territory and are not going to be given up. The Japanese government continuing their public posturing over Dokdo continues to be an unnecessary thorn in otherwise improving bilateral relations:

Taisuke Mibae, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, enters the South Korean foreign ministry building in Seoul on April 16, 2024, after being summoned over Tokyo’s renewed territorial claim to Dokdo. (Yonhap)

South Korea “strongly” protested against Japan on Tuesday after Tokyo issued an annual diplomatic report renewing its territorial claims to the South’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.

To lodge a protest over the report, South Korea’s foreign ministry called in Taisuke Mibae, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The claim, strongly disputed by South Korea, which has long maintained effective control of Dokdo with the permanent stationing of security personnel there, was included in the 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook that was reported to the Cabinet by Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.

In this year’s report, Japan continued to claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory historically and under international law, and that South Korea is carrying on with an “illegal occupation” of the area.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the Dokdo front, just more of the same nonsense:

Foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk speaks during a press briefing in Seoul, Jan. 16. Yonhap

Korea “strongly protests” Japan’s repeated claims to its easternmost islets of Dokdo, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, after Japan’s top diplomat renewed the claim in a speech before the parliament.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa reiterated the claims to the islets, called Takeshima in Japan, during a speech on this year’s foreign policy objectives in a parliamentary session earlier in the day.

“The government strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated unfair territorial claims over Dokdo, which is clearly our own territory historically, geographically and under international law,” ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a commentary.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese government should put a gag order on their governmental officials making Dokdo claims. South Korea is never, ever going to give up Dokdo to Japan and to keep bringing this issue up publicly is not helpful when the Japanese government is trying to strengthen relations with the ROK.

Even this recent deadly earthquake in Japan cannot stop the Dokdo madness:

Seoul’s foreign ministry expressed a strong protest against Tokyo on Tuesday as Japan’s weather agency included South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo in a tsunami advisory issued after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck Japan.

In a map showing tsunami alerts on the Japan Meteorological Agency’s website, the rocky islets were highlighted in yellow, along with other regions on Japan’s west coast, indicating tsunami advisories were issued for the areas. 

The powerful quake struck the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year’s Day, reportedly killing several people and causing tsunamis on South Korea’s east coast.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is really an issue that President Yoon needs to work with Japan to resolve to further improve bilateral relations.

On a topic that everyone in Korea can agree on, the opposition party has go out and lie in an attempt to smear President Yoon by claiming he may give up Dokdo to Japan:

The ruling and the main opposition parties denounced Japan’s territorial claims over South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo on Wednesday as they marked “Dokdo Day.”

“While the reestablishment of a future-oriented relationship between South Korea and Japan has opened discussions for cooperation in fields such as security and economy, the territorial dispute issue is an independent matter,” Rep. Park Jeong-ha, chief spokesperson of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said.

Park said the government and the PPP will make legal and legislative efforts to protect the islets, and urged Japan to stop its “thoughtless words and wrongful claims” over Dokdo.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) also denounced Japan’s claims over Dokdo, but it also accused the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol of making too many concessions to Tokyo, including consenting to Tokyo’s release of radioactive water into the ocean.

“People are concerned that the government might even give up Dokdo. We urged President Yoon to become a president who safeguards the territory and national interests of South Korea,” Rep. Kwon Chil-seung, the DP’s chief spokesperson, said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is one issue I really wish the Japanese would work out with the Yoon administration. Ties between the two countries will never be fully normalized until this issue is resolved:

South Korea issued a strong protest on Friday against Japan’s renewed territorial claim to its easternmost islets of Dokdo in an annual defense white paper, calling for its immediate retraction.

Earlier in the day, Tokyo adopted the security document during a Cabinet session, renewing the claim to the pair of rocky outcroppings in the East Sea in the paper for the 19th consecutive year.

“The government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory historically, geographically and under international law,” Lim Soo-suk, the spokesperson of the foreign ministry, said in a statement, using South Korea’s official name.

“The ROK government urges the Japanese government to immediately withdraw such claims,” he said, adding that the claims do not and will not have any impact on South Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo and that Seoul will respond “firmly” to any provocation over the islets.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese are likely not showing much flexibility on this issue because of their ongoing territorial dispute with the Russians over the Kuril Islands which are islands they actually care about.