1. All rights reserved by the Northeast Asian History Foundation
2. No part of the files on this website may be reproduced and/or copied in any way, shape, or form without permission.

Title: The Kuril Islands: Historical, Legal, Policy and Economic Issues

Written by Boris Ivanovich Tkachenko and Translated by Kim Jong-heon (金鍾憲)
ISBN 978-89-6187-352-9 93910

The word ‘Kuril' refers to man in the aboriginal language of the native Ainu people. This suggests that the Kuril Islands are inhabited just as Sakhalin or Hokkaido. The Ainus became a frontier people as a result of the violent and exclusive colonial policies of Russia and Japan. When the Pacific War broke out, the Kuril Islands became the subject of the test of the U.S.-Soviet wartime alliance. Consequently, the land that the Ainu people called their home became the center of territorial disputes in Northeast Asia that it is today.
Dr. Tkachenko, the author of this book, is a Russian expert on territorial issues in East Asia. He has written about 380 research papers that deal with the issues of Russian borders with China, Japan, or the United States. In this book, Part 1 deals with the historical and legal aspects of the Kuril issue, and Part 2 provides a detailed analysis of the strategic and economic significance of the Southern Kuril Islands. This book will help find a solution to the Kuril issue today as a new Cold War of confrontation unfolds between the systems of U.S.-Japan alliance and Russia-China cooperation.

Author's Preface

Foreword

Part 1 Historical and Legal Aspects of the ‘Kuril Issue'
Chapter 1 Development of the Russia-Japan Border from the 18th to Early 20th Centuries
Chapter 2 Political and Legal Issues of the Kuril Islands Ceded to the Soviet Union in the Aftermath of World War II
Chapter 3 Territorial Issues between the Two Countries in the Late 20th Century
Chapter 4 Political and Legal Aspects of the Kuril Issue from the Late 20th to Early 21st Centuries

Part 2 Economic and Strategic Significance of the Southern Kuril Islands
Chapter 1 Geopolitical and Defensive Aspects of the Kuril Issue for Russia's National Security
Chapter 2 Economic Aspects of the Kuril Issue for Russia's National Security

Conclusion

Bibliography

Attachments (Documents and Materials)