JIN-315 -- You Say "Dokdo," and I Say "Takeshima"

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Issue No. 315
Wednesday March 30, 2005 TOKYO
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+++ VIEWPOINT CONTENTS
You Say "Dokdo," and I Say "Takeshima"

-1: Down Off the Shelf
-2: The Japanese and Korean Claims
-3: International Law
-4: Resolution by the International Court of Justice?

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+++ VIEWPOINT

You Say "Dokdo," and I Say "Takeshima"

-1: Down Off the Shelf

Many Japanese probably had never heard of "Takeshima," or had
forgotten it if they had. The name, however, was seared onto their
retinas by the recent telecast of a man setting himself afire as part
of a protest against the Shimane Prefectural Assembly's passing an
ordinance establishing February 22 as "Takeshima Day."

Takeshima consists of two islets and neighboring reefs, with a total
area of 0.23 square kilometers, roughly equivalent to Tokyo's Hibiya
Park, situated nearly midway between Japan and Korea. So why the
hubbub over two pismire-sized islands?

Takeshima is also claimed by Korea, where it is known as "Dokdo."
Koreans have not forgotten, nor forgiven, annexation by Japan and
the subsequent attempt to expunge their identity. Perceived
Japanese re-encroachment upon their territory could only inflame
Korean passions.

The dispute had been effectively shelved back in 1999 when the two
governments had agreed to make the area around the islets jointly
administered provisional waters in which fishing boats of both
nations could operate.

The Shimane Prefectural Assembly took the problem down from
the shelf.

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-2: The Japanese and Korean Claims

Japan has consistently based its claim to sovereignty over
Takeshima on the historical record and international law.

The historical record begins with the early 17th century.
At the time present Takeshima was called Matsushima and
Utsuryoto, to the northwest, was called Takeshima. Villagers
from towns in the Oki Islands, 157 kilometers southeast, began
gathering abalone on Utsuryoto and presenting the shell fish to
the Tokugawa Shogunate. Boats that sailed from the Oki Islands
to Utsuryoto used Matsushima (Takeshima) as a way port.

The Korean dynasty claimed sovereignty over Utsuryoto. The
Tokugawa Shogunate prohibited passage to Utsuryoto in 1696.
However, it recognized Matsushima (Takeshima) as Japanese
territory, for which reason it permitted passage to the two
islets. Oki islanders hunted seals and continued to gather
abalone on Matsushima.

Korea bases its claim of sovereignty over Dokdo on two geographies,
published, respectively, in 1454 and 1531. According to the two books,
Takeshima, formerly called Usanto, was part of the country of Usanto,
which included Utsuryoto, and was incorporated into the Korean Shilla
Dynasty in the sixth century.

Japan remonstrates there is no written proof that Usanto corresponds
to Takeshima.

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-3: International Law

Japan says the incorporation of Takeshima into its territory by a
Cabinet decision on January 28, 1905, has the force of international
law. On February 22 of the same year Shimane Prefecture gave official
notification that the islets were to be called "Takeshima." Today
the Japanese Government stresses that the Cabinet decision and the
prefecture's naming the islets constituted reaffirmation by Japan as
a modern state of sovereignty over Takeshima.

However, in November of the same year the Second Japan-Korea
Agreement was concluded, making Korea a Japanese protectorate.
Korea points out that from the previous year, 1904, it had been
forced by Japan to use Japanese diplomatic counselors and that under
the confused conditions of the time the decision to incorporate
Takeshima was as secretive as a thief at a fire.

What sparked Korea to take control effectively over Takeshima was
ROK President Syngman Rhee's establishment of a territorial line
in the waters between Korea and Japan on January 18, 1952. Takeshima
was on the Korean side of the so-called Rhee Line. On January 28
Japan protested the line was illegal. The two countries began
exchanging contentious verbal notes stressing their positions.

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-4: Resolution by the International Court of Justice?

But on September 2, 1954, Korea decided upon the armed occupation
of Dokdo and erected a lighthouse on the 15th of the month. It
permanently stationed armed guards, built quarters, observation
posts, and piers. What's more, Korea seized a number of Japanese
fishing boats that crossed the Rhee Line.

On September 25 Japan proposed referring the matter to the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) as the sole method of a fair
resolution. However, Korea rejected the proposal, arguing there
could be no territorial dispute over Dokdo, because it was part
of Korea.

The officially stated reason aside, the ROK has no motivation to
put the issue before the ICJ. It controls Dokdo, has solid public
backing, and knows Japan will not resort to force. It holds all
the cards. Why risk an unfavorable ruling? And the court would
unlikely take into consideration Japan’s history of aggression.

The last point is at the heart of the dispute. Koreans are an
aggrieved people. Their bitterness toward their neighbor requires
continual soothing by the palliative of apology and by a
politico-cultural sensitivity that eschews whitewashing of
school textbooks and visits by the PM to Yasukuni Shrine.

The last will not happen under the nationalistic Koizumi
Administration. The PM sent troops to a war zone for the first
time in Japan's postwar history and envisions scrapping the
war-renouncing article Number 9 of the Constitution. And
nationalism is proving infectious. Now even the provinces
are making declarations like "Takeshima Day."

The bilateral rapprochement evidenced by the loosening of restrictions
on imports of Japanese culture to Korea and the popularity of Korean
dramas in Japan has been dealt a major setback. The two nations must
find a way to put Takeshima/Dokdo back on the shelf.

-- Burritt Sabin

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EDITOR
Written and edited by Burritt Sabin (editors2@japaninc.com)

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