Dear editor,

Though it seems late to voice such an opinion, Japan's claim to Dokdo is historical, geographical and legal idiocy. The only result of Japan's claim to Dokdo has been to intensify an already strained relationship between Tokyo and Seoul.

Even a layman who knows how to turn on the news or click around the Internet should come to the obvious conclusion that Dokdo belongs to Korea.

First, Korea claimed Dokdo in 512. Japan did so in 1905 under an imperialist policy.

Second, various maps, from ancient to modern and from France to Japan, show Dokdo as Korean territory.

Third, and most legally important, the Cairo Conference of 1943 declared that Japan would be expelled from all territory taken by violence and greed.

It is no historical secret that Japan was defeated by the Allies in 1945, and was thus required to return all territories acquired through force.

While Japan appears to have some legitimate claims to Dokdo, they all fail when placed under even light scrutiny. In fact, most of Japan's assertions are ridiculous.

They range from allegations that Koreans were unaware of Dokdo's existence to allegations that Dokdo could not be found on Korean maps: ridiculous.

Essentially, based on Japan's use of logic they should annex all of Korea and everything else they acquired in the early 1900s.

Any person aware of the Dokdo issue should ask a simple question: ``Why is Japan still trying to claim Dokdo?" All countries want more fishing rights, but what is Japan hoping to accomplish by claiming the islets that are indubitably Korea's? Japan's actions are nonsense.

Cole Bridges
English teacher
Sunwha-dong, Daejeon
locatecole@yahoo.com