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Facts about Dokdo commonly ignored in Japan

Jeffrey Cahak The writer is a recent graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts, History. He is currently an English language teacher at Bugu Middle School in Uljin, South Korea. After his recent trip to Dokdo, he became aware of the dispute surrounding Dokdo and has decided to share his knowledge with readers.

Prior to my visit to Dokdo in April 2013, I knew very little about Dokdo and the territorial dispute between Korea and Japan. I was invited to Dokdo by the Uljin Office of Education and was immediately excited to learn more about why there was a dispute over such small and seemingly insignificant islands. After an uneventful boat ride from Ulleungdo, I was surprised to see the excitement and emotion among all the Korean passengers when we first caught a glimpse of Dokdo in the distance. From that moment on, it became clear to me that Koreans viewed Dokdo as a symbol of independence and pride in their nation.

However, after visiting, I still have not been completely satisfied with the facts that I was presented with. So I began my own independent research into arguments from Japan as well.

Dokdo has been an integral part of Korea since it was first claimed as part of the Silla Dynasty in 512 A.D. and so it must have been a surprise when Japan claimed Dokdo under terra nullius, meaning that Dokdo didn’t belong to anyone previously. However, this is blatantly false, and is proven not only by Korea’s documents, but also by Japanese and international claims. Although the Japanese government certainly knows this, it has simply chosen to ignore the facts about Dokdo. In order to understand the dispute between Korea and Japan, we must first look at the geographical, political, and historical context of the Dokdo dispute.

Although Dokdo has been recognized as part of Korea since the Silla Dynasty, one of the primary causes for this territorial dispute between Korea and Japan is the lucrative fisheries in the East Sea. Additionally, a large deposit of methane gas has recently been found below the East Sea, which has caused tensions to rise further as Japan has increasingly pushed its claim for Dokdo.

Dokdo is located about 215 kilometers from the eastern border of Korea, and about 90 kilometers from the South Korean island of Ulleungdo. Both of these islands can be found on Korean and Japanese maps labeled as part of Korea’s territory dating back several centuries.

As early as 1145, Korea referred to the conquest of Usan-guk, an area that included Dokdo, in a publication titled, “History of the Three Kingdoms.” Dokdo was also referred to in the “Geographical Appendix to the Veritable Records of King Sejong” in 1454. In this document, Dokdo is mentionedas being visible from Ulleungdo and that it belonged within the territory of Usan-guk. These maps, and dozens of others, show that Korea incorporated Dokdo into its territory and are on display to the public at the Dokdo Museum on Ulleungdo.

Today, Japan insists that it has long claimed Dokdo as Japanese territory. But there is no evidence to prove this. In fact, Japan’s evidence often admits that Dokdo was Korea’s land long before Japan claimed the island based on terra nullius.

From 1696, the Edo Shogunate admitted that Ulleungdo was part of the Joseon Dynasty and banned Japanese people from travelling to Ulleungdo. The fishing grounds around Ulleungdo were quite lucrative for both Japan and Korea at that time, so fishermen from both nations visited the area. But the Japanese government claims that it only used Dokdo as a stopover point on the way to Ulleungdo, and that it was never a destination for Japanese fishing boats.

Some early Japanese maps show that Dokdo was part of Korea’s territory, not Japan’s. The original edition of “The Complete Map of Japanese Lands” from 1779 and an updated version in 1846 both show Dokdo outside of the longitudinal and latitudinal lines of what would be considered Japanese territory. Additionally, the “Records on Observation in the Oki Province” indicate that the Oki Islands are the northwestern border of Japan, which would place Dokdo outside of Japanese territory.

In April 1870, the Foreign Ministry of Japan sent diplomats to the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, and these diplomats later wrote that Dokdo was recognized as Joseon’s territory. Then just seven years later, the State Council of Japan claimed that Japan had nothing to do with Dokdo or Ulleungdo due to the fact that Japan had banned its people from travelling to Ulleungdo.

Records show that the Japanese officially had studied whether to include Ulleungdo and Dokdo among its territory after an inquiry from the Shimane Prefecture. But these officials determined that these islands were not part of their territory. Up to this point, Japan had consistently claimedthat Dokdo was part of Korea, not Japan.

But shortly after this, Japan’s policies toward Korea on the issue of Dokdo took a drastic shift. Just one year before Japan laid claim to Dokdo, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 broke out. Japan immediately forced Korea into signing the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1904, which allowed Japan to establishmilitary bases and dispatch troops throughout Korea. Then in 1905, Japan recognized the strategic position of Ulleungdo and Dokdo in the East Sea and added Dokdo to its territory on Jan. 28, 1905. Japan beganto illegally rule Dokdo starting in 1910.

Following Japan’s surrender of World War II, the Allied Powers forcedJapan to relinquish all territories that it had taken by “violence and greed” under the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration. Therefore, Dokdo was included in the territories that Japan must surrender to Korea. The Republic of Korea was then established in 1948 and assigned an address to Dokdo, to which neither the Allied Powers nor Japan objected.

Today, Dokdo is seen as a symbol of sovereignty from Japan. It is inhabited by two South Korean citizens and is guarded by about 50 police offi-cers. It contains a lighthouse, a water desalination plant, a helicopter pad, 4G LTE telecommunication service established by Korean telecom companies,and much more.

Japan has recently renewed its claim to Dokdo and is creating tensions in East Asia. These hostilities will achieve nothing for Japan, as its claim to Dokdo is baseless. Historical evidence shows that both countries agreed that Dokdo belonged to Korea. The Japanese government is certainly not unaware of this knowledge, but it chooses to ignore it due to its own confirmation bias.

As a neutral observer to this debate, I would advise that the best course of action for Japan to take is to relinquish its claim to Dokdo and stop pushing to take their dispute to the International Court of Justice so that both countries can begin to promote peaceful and stable relations in EastAsia.