IOC criticized for double standards on Dokdo issue
An Olympic Rings monument is seen at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo, Japan, May 26. EPA-Yonhap
Olympic body ignores controversy over Japan's territorial claim
By Jung Da-min
Criticism is mounting over the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) double standards toward South Korea and Japan in dealing with the thorny issue of the territorial dispute over Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. The longtime controversy has emerged again, after it was found by civic activists that the Japanese government has yet to correct a map for the Olympics that shows Dokdo as Japanese territory.
In July 2019, the government asked Japan to fix a map it had produced depicting the Olympic torch relay for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Following the protest, the organizing committee for the Olympics revised the map and made Dokdo less visible, but it still shows the islets as part of Japan.
Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University, who has long been engaged in civic campaigns to promote Korea's image, found this out and sent a letter to the IOC, May 21, to protest the map.
Six days later, the IOC replied, but told him to discuss the matter not with the IOC but with the organizing committee.
This combined image shows the route of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay on the official website of the Games. The magnified image, right, shows that the map marks Dokdo as Japan's territory. Courtesy of Seo Kyung-duk
South Koreans are criticizing the IOC's response, accusing it of taking a step back from the dispute, rather than taking on the role of mediator, contrary to what it did when a similar issue was raised before the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
During the Winter Games, South and North Korean athletes made a joint entrance to the opening ceremony and carried the Korean “Unification Flag,” which depicted the Korean Peninsula without Dokdo, as the two Koreas accepted the IOC's request to keep political neutrality over the territorial claim issue. The IOC's request was made following a protest by Japan.
"During the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Japan strongly called for the removal of Dokdo from the Korean Peninsula flag, and the IOC recommended that South Korea take out the islets from the flag. So, South Korea followed its recommendation, but then the IOC is not making any recommendation to Japan this time," Seo told The Korea Times.
In 2012, the IOC also withheld Korean footballer Park Jong-woo's bronze medal during the London Olympics for displaying a banner, which read Dokdo is Korean territory. He later collected the medal but received a warning from the IOC.
"The IOC is an international organization and is obliged to maintain political neutrality; but it has been keeping a politically biased attitude toward the matter. South Korea should continue to strongly protest against this obviously wrong situation," Seo said.
Last Friday, Seo emailed the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto and the PR department of the committee about the matter, but has yet to receive a response.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, on a screen, delivers an opening speech while Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto listens on, at a five-party meeting for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, participated in by International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parsons, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and Japanese Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa in Tokyo, in this March 20 photo. Reuters-Yonhap
"In the letter to the Japanese side, I asked them to correct the map, while also sending a handbook about Dokdo written in Japanese, which explains why Dokdo is Korean territory, historically geographically and in terms of international law,” Seo said.
Meanwhile, the government and political parties here have also issued strong messages of protest to Tokyo, with some political heavyweights calling for South Korea to boycott the Olympics if Tokyo does not change the map.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee held a meeting, Tuesday, to discuss the matter and decided to send a letter to the IOC calling for the international organization to take a more active role as a mediator.
“The government will continue its efforts to strengthen Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo, based on consultations with all relevant organizations,” a government official said.
The foreign ministry also called in Hirohisa Soma, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, on the same day to express regret over the Dokdo issue.