Japan is ramping up its provocations concerning Dokdo, Korea’s easternmost islets. Most notable is that Tokyo seems to be activating its offensives systematically with a special aim to alter the status quo of Seoul’s effective control over Dokdo, which is called Takeshima in Japan.
On Tuesday, Japan repeated its territorial claims over Dokdo in its annual Diplomatic Bluebook, arguing that the islets are Japanese territory based on historical facts and international law. This argument is nothing new, given that the neighboring country has repeatedly made such claims.
But what’s new this time around is that Japan has decided to issue an English version of the bluebook for the first time in nine years. It appears that the island country intends to make its sovereignty over Dokdo known widely in the international community on the occasion of this year’s 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
On Monday, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology also announced the results of its review of textbooks to be used in middle schools. Most of the textbooks approved in the review contain content laying out stronger Tokyo claims over Dokdo than before.
The number of middle school textbooks purporting that Korea is “illegally occupying’’ Dokdo increased from four to 13 ― a three-fold rise from the last review four years ago. Such textbook provocations have already been anticipated because the Japanese government revised its teaching guidelines for middle and high school textbooks in January last year to promote a more hard-line nationalist agenda.
But it’s apparent that Tokyo’s absurd claims will change nothing as long as Seoul is controlling Dokdo effectively and legally.
The bigger problem is that Japan’s younger generations will begin learning the mistaken notion that Korea is an illegal occupier of their territory. This will certainly deal another fatal blow to the already-frayed relations between the two countries at a time when there are mounting calls for better cultural and economic ties despite the political impasse.
In April 2014, Japan’s textbook authorization committee approved fifth- and sixth-grade social studies textbooks that explicitly claim Dokdo as Japanese territory ``illegally’’ occupied by Seoul. And it’s common to find Japan’s high school textbooks containing such absurd territorial claims.
Japan’s intentions to target younger students with history distortions have become more and more obvious, and its repeated wishes for better ties with Seoul ring hollow. As things stand now, it’s hard to expect Japan’s conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to repent genuinely for his country’s past wrongdoings in his speech at the joint session of the U.S. Congress in late April.
The Seoul government reacted angrily to Japan’s provocations, summoning Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Koro Bessho to the Foreign Ministry Monday. But its tools are obviously limited amid criticism that Seoul’s ``quiet diplomacy’’ has only emboldened Tokyo.
But given Japan’s intentions to turn Dokdo into a subject of international dispute, South Korea has no reason to respond emotionally. Seoul should remain calm but stern while calling for Tokyo to revise its wrong historical and territorial views.