US Insists on Neutrality on Islets
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
A U.S. State Department spokesman said Monday that the United States has long maintained a policy stance of ``neutrality" on Dokdo. The spokesman added that the latest change from the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) does not represent any policy change within the American government.
``The U.S. position for decades has been not to take a position regarding the sovereignty of the islands in question," said U.S. State Department deputy spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos, according to Yonhap News Service.
Gallegos told reporters: ``The change to the [BGN] Web site does not represent a change in U.S. policy, but rather an action to ensure consistency with that policy."
He added the question of territorial claim for these East Sea islets is for Japan and Korea to resolve peacefully between themselves. Gallegos said the U.S. government would welcome ``any outcome" agreed to by both Korea and Japan.
The controversy involves a decision by the BGN, which is charged with establishing and maintaining various international names and references for use by U.S. government agencies. Last Saturday, the agency made a noticeable change to its listing for ``Liancourt Rocks," the English name for Dokdo that the office uses.
Previously, the agency had defined the East Sea islets as ``South Korean territory." But beginning last Saturday, these islets have been categorized as ``undesignated sovereignty."
In response, Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Tae-sik said he and his staff would do their utmost to rectify the situation. The ambassador is reportedly meeting officials from the U.S. State Department and other relevant U.S. government agencies to deliver a message of concern expressed by the Korean government.
Yonhap News also reported Tuesday that a number of other U.S. government agencies are also taking similar steps, taking a ``neutral" stance on the Dokdo sovereignty issue.
For example, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) ``World Fact Book" online places Dokdo in the ``International Dispute" listing. It says ``Japan and South Korea claim Liancourt Rocks (Take-shima/Tok-do) occupied by South Korea since 1954." CIA's World Fact Book was last updated last week, though it's not clear when updates on Dokdo were made. The U.S. Library of Congress also describes the East Sea islets as an area involved in a ``dispute" between Korea and Japan.