Korea Refutes New Dokdo Claims from Japan
The Japanese Foreign Ministry in February on its website posted a 14-page document to support its claim to Korea’s Dokdo islets. Entitled “10 Issues of Takeshima” — the Japanese name for Dokdo — and available in Korean and English as well as Japanese, the controversial document is highly likely to mislead readers as to the legitimacy of Japan’s claims to the East Sea islets. Now, the Dokdo Research Center under the Korea Maritime Institute has produced a document entitled “Did Dokdo Really Belong to Japan?” which refutes the Japanese claims one by one.
◆ Did Korea not recognize the existence of Dokdo?
The Japanese Foreign Ministry document claims, “Japan has long recognized the existence of Takeshima” but there is no evidence that Korea has been aware of its existence for long. It cites as a basis for its claim the “Kaisei Nipponyochiroteizendo (Revised Complete Map of Japanese Lands and Roads)”, published in 1779 by Sekisui Nagakubo, which it claimed records the locations of Ulleung and Dokdo islands “in their positions between the Korean Peninsula and the Oki Islands.” The Dokdo Research Center points out that the two areas, unlike the rest of Japan, are not colored on such maps, in fact showing that Japan laid no claim to them.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry in February on its website posted a 14-page document to support its claim to Korea’s Dokdo islets. Entitled “10 Issues of Takeshima” — the Japanese name for Dokdo — and available in Korean and English as well as Japanese, the controversial document is highly likely to mislead readers as to the legitimacy of Japan’s claims to the East Sea islets. Now, the Dokdo Research Center under the Korea Maritime Institute has produced a document entitled “Did Dokdo Really Belong to Japan?” which refutes the Japanese claims one by one.
◆ Did Korea not recognize the existence of Dokdo?
The Japanese Foreign Ministry document claims, “Japan has long recognized the existence of Takeshima” but there is no evidence that Korea has been aware of its existence for long. It cites as a basis for its claim the “Kaisei Nipponyochiroteizendo (Revised Complete Map of Japanese Lands and Roads)”, published in 1779 by Sekisui Nagakubo, which it claimed records the locations of Ulleung and Dokdo islands “in their positions between the Korean Peninsula and the Oki Islands.” The Dokdo Research Center points out that the two areas, unlike the rest of Japan, are not colored on such maps, in fact showing that Japan laid no claim to them.
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The document maintains that what old Korean records call Usan Island is not Dokdo but another name for Ulleung Island. In refutation, the center said many historical texts including “Sejongshillok (Veritable Records of King Sejong During the Chosun Dynasty: 1454)” and “Donggukyeojiseungnam (Survey of the Geography of Korea: 1481)” show that Korea did regard the Ulleung Island and Usan Island as separate islands. “Donggukdaejeondo (Great Map of Korea: 1757)” exactly marks the location of Dokdo east of Ulleung Island.
◆ Japan recognizes Uleung Island and Dokdo islets as Korean territory
The Japanese document says, “In 1618, two merchants of Yonago received (overseas fishing) permission for passage to Utsuryo Island (Ulleung Island) via the feudal lord of Tottori” and used Dokdo “that was on the route from Oki to Utsuryo” as a “navigational port and docking point for ships.” In this way, it claims that Japan established its sovereignty over Dokdo in the mid-17th century. But, says Korea, since the permission was for fishing ships to go abroad, the record in fact proves that Japan did not consider Ulleung and Dokdo its territory.
A Japanese report in 1870 also shows that the country recognized Dokdo as Korean territory as it was part of Ulleung. Another claim in the document that “the deposition by Ahn Yong-bok (a civilian diplomat in the 1690s) contains many points that conflict with factual evidence” is also misleading — and a record of interrogation of Ahn found in Japan’s Oki Island in 2005 puts those points right.
◆ ‘Seokdo’ in the Imperial Ordinance of 1900 refers to Dokdo.
The Japanese document says Japan confirmed its sovereignty over Dokdo through a declaration by Shimane Prefecture in 1905, incorporating Dokdo based on the fact that the islets belonged to no country and it occupied them first. But this claim contradicts the other assertion, that the islets already belonged to the country.
According to Imperial Ordinance No. 41 of 1900, the regions under the jurisdiction of Ulleung County included all of Ulleung Island, Jukdo and “Seokdo”, the transliteration of the Chinese name for Dokdo, whose local name at the time was “Stone Island.”
◆ Korea rightfully guards Dokdo
The Japanese document maintains that Japan strongly protested against Korea’s “illegal occupation” of Dokdo in 1952, when then Korean president Syngman Rhee “issued a declaration concerning maritime sovereignty,” which encompassed the Dokdo islets into the so-called “peace line.” In fact, Rhee’s installation of the line and stationing of guards on the islets was an exercise of sovereignty over Korean territory, which is guaranteed under international law.
Finally, the document claims Korea rejected Japan’s proposal to take the “dispute” to the International Court of Justice. But Korea has no reason to fight about territory over which its sovereignty is established. The Dokdo Research Center said, “Japan’s move is tantamount to denying Korea’s complete liberation and independence and justifying its colonialist acts.”
see this article:
http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Dokdo
nobody knows about it, though.
citizendium is similar to wikipedia except that people there use their real names & experts get final say in disputes & they have “approved” versions of articles that no one can change.