This is the fifth and last of a five-part series examining Korean and Japanese claims regarding Dokdo, and the cause of the territorial dispute over the rocky islets sitting midway between the two countries. ― ED.
By Yoo Mi-rim
Japan’s provocation over Korea’s easternmost island of Dokdo is becoming more aggressive with its authorization of 12 middle school textbooks that falsely state Dokdo as its own territory.
As some of the Japanese textbooks go as far as claiming that Korea is illegally occupying Dokdo, it will be inevitable for Japanese students to have a distorted view on the sovereignty over the rocky island.
Nevertheless, Japan’s claim that Dokdo is an inherent part of its territory has proven to be untrue even by its own government documents that officially acknowledge that Ulleung Island and neighboring Dokdo in the East Sea are foreign possessions.
Thus, it will be as important to provide evidence that Korea had exercised its sovereignty over it before Japan illegally annexed it in the early 20th century as it is to address the fallacies of Japan’s claims over Dokdo.
Japan has been reluctant to admit that Korea exercised effective control over Dokdo because this would greatly undermine the legitimacy of its decision to incorporate it into Shimane Prefecture in 1905.
Tokyo, however, does not hesitate to claim that Dokdo was terra nullius, or land belonging to no one, prior to its seizure in 1905, despite the fact that this contradicts its own argument that the East Sea island belonged to it for more than centuries.
In a nutshell, Japan denies Korea’s reaffirmation of its sovereignty over Dokdo through the promulgation of Imperial Ordinance No. 41 in 1900 and the latter’s effective control over the island before 1905.
Japan argues that Seokdo, which literally means rocky island and stated in the ordinance, does not refer to Dokdo.
But how truthful is Japan’s assertion?
This article will explore why Japan’s incorporation of Dokdo was illegitimate by demonstrating that Japan’s seizure of the island came as a result of Japan's encroachment on Ulleung Island and how Korea reacted to Japan’s invasions.
Japan’s intrusion into Ulleung Island and Dokdo goes back to the Edo period (1603-1868). In 1693, An Yong-bok and other Korean fishermen clashed with Japanese fishermen in waters off Ulleung Island.
The incident led to a diplomatic dispute between Korea and Japan and ended with the Japanese feudal government of the Edo Shogunate’s formal acknowledgement that two disputed islands belonged to Korea.
Following the Japanese Tottori clan’s report in January 1696 that Dokdo does not belong to its territory, the shogunate issued a travel ban on its nationals to Ulleung Island and Dokdo.
Japanese fishermen temporarily stopped sailing to the two Korean islands following the announcement of the measure, but they could not overcome temptation to access the rich fishery and natural resources that Dokdo and Ulleung Island offer.
Records show their illegal intrusions continued even in the 19th Century.
Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, an increasing number of Japanese people began to explore and settle in new islands.
Many demanded that the government incorporate Ulleung Island, which they first referred to as Takeshima and later Matsushima in confusion, into Japan’s territory.
As the government carried out a nationwide land-registry and mapping project, Japanese people sought inclusion of Ulleung Island and Dokdo under the jurisdiction of Shimane Prefecture.
However, the Daijokan, or the Department of State in Japan, made it clear that they were not a part of Japan’s territory in 1877.
When the Ministry of Home Affairs made an inquiry to the Daijokan, then Japan’s highest decision-making body, it instructed the ministry “to keep in mind that Takeshima and another island had nothing to do with Japan.”
The attached documents and map of the Ministry of Home Affairs indicate that the Daijokan referred the Ullueng Island as Takeshima and Dokdo, which lies just 90 kilometers from it, as another island.