By Chung Min-uck
Seoul on Tuesday strongly criticized Tokyo’s renewed territorial claims over Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo in its annual defense paper.
The move came as the 2012 defense white paper, released by the Japanese Defense Ministry and approved by Cabinet earlier in the day, again included the statement “dispute over northern territories and Takeshima (Japanese name for Dokdo) still remains unresolved,” calling these areas its “inherent territory.”
The referring of the islets as Japanese territory in its annual paper began in 2005 under the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and continued in the same language even after a regime change to the liberal Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in 2009.
“(The South Korean) government strongly protests and calls for an immediate correction in Japan’s inclusion of territorial claims to Dokdo, which is clearly indigenous territory of Korea in terms of history, geography and international law, in the Defense of Japan 2012,” Cho Tae-young, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, Tuesday. “(The South Korean government) will not allow any kinds of territorial claims on Dokdo by Japan.”
The ministry also summoned Takashi Kurai, minister and deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Korea, to express “deep regrets” over the claim.
Reflecting the frustration over its neighbors’ repeated challenge against the territorial sovereignty, the level of protest has been raised, according to the foreign ministry, compared to the previous year.
Following the release of the white paper in 2011, the foreign ministry’s spokesman made an unofficial comment instead of an official one. The ranking of a Japanese diplomat summoned to the ministry has been raised as well as Kurai ranks second in the Japanese mission to Korea. Formerly, senior-level Japanese diplomats have been summoned.
“It is really disappointing that there is no change in Japan’s attitude regarding the matter,” said the ministry spokesman in a regular briefing, Tuesday. “We will keep on pushing the Japanese government to stop the claims.”
On the day, the defense ministry issued a similar statement, saying it “sternly handles any kinds of moves that hurt the sovereignty of Dokdo.”
Dokdo islets, lying in the body of water that divides the Korean Peninsula and Japan, have long been a bone of contention in relations between the two countries as Japan believes the islets’ sovereignty is still undesignated. They are currently effectively controlled by the South Korean government.
Insiders say Seoul’s stepped-up approach against Tokyo’s territorial claims is also in line with the neighboring nation’s latest drive to increase its military capability by asserting its right of collective self-defense to engage in military operations overseas coupled with Japan’s refusal to compensate Korean women who were forcibly conscripted by the former imperial Japan for sexual slavery during Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945).
Experts say Japan will maintain its hard-line stance in foreign relations issues in the future.
“The ruling Japanese DPJ, which took office in 2009, has factions that back moderate and liberal policies but it should also be underscored that the DPJ is a party formed by many factions including far-right figures like the current Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda,” said Jo Yang-hyeon, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA).
The professor added that on top of the DPJ’s nature, a shift in the balance of power in Northeast Asia following the United States’ return to the Asia-pacific region and rising military capabilities of China have caused Japanese society to back a hard-line stance as they feel a threat to national security.
“The clash between Tokyo and Beijing over the disputed islands of Senkaku (in the East Sea in 2010) served as a momentum for the entire Japanese society to move to the right,” Jo said. “Extended territorial claims by the DPJ with its neighbors reflect these points.”
Tokyo lately is considering buying the Senkaku Islands from the present Japanese owner to gain an upper hand in the territorial dispute with China. The move sparked an angry response from China, Asia’s rising superpower, further putting tension on bilateral ties.
The latest defense paper of Japan saw a rise in Chinese military’s role as a potential risk to Japan’s national security.