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| An aerial photo, taken by the Korea Coast Guard, shows Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. / Korea Times file |
This is the second of a five-part series exploring "The Meaning of Dokdo for Koreans" that The Korea Times is carrying out in collaboration with the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF). — ED.
By Chung Ah-young
In recent years, Japanese right-wing politicians have been stepping up provocations toward neighboring countries, a situation that has gotten worse since Shinzo Abe took power last year.
In particular, Tokyo made a fresh claim last month over the Korean islands of Dokdo in Japan's Diplomatic Bluebook for 2014.
The guidelines argue that Dokdo is part of Japanese territory and vows to validate the argument through international legal efforts. The statement came amid Japan's attempt to revise its elementary school textbooks, which will likely include its sovereignty claims over the rocky islets.
Japan's territorial claims are seen as groundless here as Seoul reclaimed its sovereignty over its territories, including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula, when Korea gained independence from Japanese colonial rule.
What seems to be Japan's foreign activity happens to be a part of home policy propaganda," said Oleg Airapetov, a history professor of at Moscow State University, in an email interview with The Korea Times.
He said that how the crisis in Japan develops depends on what happens in the coming years. "Japanese politicians are sober people and I am sure they understand that they will get nothing from Korea. Dokdo is nothing but a doll which is given to the Japanese nation by its leaders to play with and forget about such things as Fukushima, at least for a time. That doesn't mean that Seoul is supposed to do nothing. I am sure that the Koreans will ignore the claims, but not the campaign itself and will be as active as their neighbors are," he said.
"Dokdo was a part of the Korean kingdom and recognized as an integral part of the Korean state before the Japanese protectorate and, what is much more important, after it. Even in the days like ours, the law is still the law," he added.
Airapetov previously said in a recent newsletter published by the Northeast Asian History Foundation that, most importantly, Japan's sovereignty claims are not valid. "The islands claimed by Japan are either Korean or Russian territory under current international law. Any action in violation of international law is very dangerous," he said.
Airapetov observed that the geographical location of Korea continues to be a source of pressure for the country.
"The Japanese protectorate and its rule during the colonial period have obviously left unforgettable scars in the historical memory of the Korean nation, and one hardly can doubt that Korea doesn't want, and will not want, to retreat in the Dokdo case. Meanwhile there can hardly be found any country which easily accepts a violation of its integral territorial unity," Airapetov said.
Aslan Abashidze, a professor of the department of international law at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, raised concerns that the Japanese government's territorial claims over Dokdo and other geographical spots are backed by elaborate efforts to politicize the accounts of its history, starting with school books.
"Japanese native lands" contain instructions concerning the Kuril Islands. According to these instructions, teachers should tell Japanese children that these islands constitute a part of Japan "on grounds recognized by international law."
Moreover, they are to teach the children that there is no territorial problem related to the Diaoyu Dao archipelago since Japan de facto controls the islands owing to the fact that in 1972, the United States, in contradiction to provisions of the Cairo Declaration of 1943 handed over control of the archipelago to Japan.
He said the legal ground of Korea's ownership over Dokdo is based on one of the conditions of the post-World War II settlement, terminating Japanese control over those territories.
Particularly, that was provided by Instruction No. 667/1 of Jan. 29, 1946 issued by the Supreme Command of the Allied occupation forces.
However, the United States excluded the Dokdo Islands from the San Francisco Peace Treaty of Sept. 8, 1951, which has given Japan the ability to manipulate their position, according to the professor.
"Korea has all the necessary international legal grounds, historical background and the argument of the de facto occupation of these islands," he said.
