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This book, The Kuril Islands: Historical, Legal, Policy and Economic Issues, published by the Northeast Asian History Foundation, is a complete translation of the Russian book ("Курильская проблема: история, право, политика иэкономика") by Boris Ivanovich Tkachenko (Борис Иванович Ткаченко) originally published in 2009 by Admiral Nevelskoy (Невельской) Maritime State University in Vladivostok.

Boris Ivanovich Tkachenko

B.I. Tkachenko works for the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of the Far-East, Far-Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Science (IHAE FEBRAS) and he has been prolific in his research on Russia-China and Russia-Japan border disputes. This book is one of his many works on border disputes, and it is worth a read for the people of Korea whose sovereignty over Dokdo is being challenged by Japan.

Tkachenko's writing of this book is based on the basic assumptions that the Soviet Union's occupation of the Kuril Islands after Word War II was completely lawful and that Russia must absolutely maintain its territorial sovereignty over the Kuril Islands for the strategic value as well as the vast amounts of underground and water resources that those islands have. These assumptions may not be exactly conducive to objective writing. But the author remains serious, interesting, and mostly objective throughout this book in presenting his views on territorial disputes between Russia and Japan. As a matter of fact, his argument is quite convincing.

The Careful Collection of Materials and Detailed Analysis Win Over the Readers

Part I presents Japan's claims to the four islands, Kunashir (Кунашир), Iturup (Итуруп), Shikotan (Шикотан), and Habomai (Хабомай), referred to as the Northern Territories by Japan, which are based largely on the following two grounds. First, Japan, as it argues, was the first in history to discover these four islands and place them under its effective control as the Northern Territories. The Treaty of Shimoda (下田) signed between Russia and Japan in 1855 is the proof that Japan's title to these islands was also recognized by international law. And the Russia-Japan border dispute was settled by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg of 1875. Secondly, the four islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories were not a part of the Kuril Islands from the beginning. Therefore, the Soviet Union's occupation of the Northern Territories as Stalin made them a part of the Kuril Islands in the process of post-WWII arrangements was in violation of "the principle of no territorial expansion."

Tkachenko goes on to dispute these arguments one by one. First, he presents a detailed description of the history of Russia's exploration of the Kuril Islands, which refutes the claim that Japan was the first to discover the Northern Territories. He then presents the fact that Russia levied a tax in kind on the local residents before Japan did as evidence against Japan's purported effective control over the Northern Territories. He maintains that Japan is fundamentally to blame for the denunciation of the treaties of 1855 and 1875 concerning territorial disputes because the border lines changed as a result of the Russo-Japanese War.

The author explains why the Soviet Union's acquisition of the Kuril Islands by transfer was lawful. His explanation is based on a number of documents, including the statement issued on the 14th of August 14 in 1945 by the Japanese government regarding its acceptance of the terms of capitulation under the Cairo Declaration, the Yalta Agreement, and the Potsdam Declaration. And he maintains that the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan is not in violation of the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, considering Japan's hostilities committed against the Soviet Union after the Pact was signed on the 13th of April in 1941, and the provision (Article 3) that allowed the Pact to be denounced within the five-year period of its operation. He also quotes a number of sources, including the Charter of the United Nations and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties concerning the principle of 'fundamental change in situation,' in explaining in detail why the Soviet Union's action was legitimate and not in violation of the principle of no territorial expansion.

Regarding the claim that the Northern Territories are not a part of the Kuril Islands, he quotes a number of documents, including the official historical records produced by Japan between the signing of the Treaty of 1855 and the 1950s, the Encyclopaedia Britannica of the U.K., and U.S. Department of State sources, in verifying that the four islands are a part of the Kuril Islands, and, therefore, what they call the Northern Territories do not exist.

Recommended for Readers Interested in Dokdo

Tkachenko insists that the Kuril Islands, including the Southern Kuril Islands, are Russia's inherent territory and that Russia's territorial sovereignty over those islands must be absolutely maintained. If this argument is to be believed, then Nikita Khrushchev made a mistake when he was so caught up in his effort to negotiate a Soviet-Japanese peace treaty that he addressed the possibility of returning Habomai and Shikotan to Japan. The author rationalizes the Soviet Union's policy, saying that what Khrushchev did was in itself against the domestic law of the Soviet Union, that Japan broke the promise with the Soviet Union made under the joint declaration of 1956 by singing the Security Treaty with the U.S. afterwards, and that the cession of the two islands was also on the condition that it should occur 'after the conclusion of a peace treaty.' After giving Mikhail Gorbachev, Eduard Shevardnadze, and their successor Boris Yeltsin harsh criticism for their rash territorial policy which he believes betrayed the interests of the Russian people, he advocates defending the Kuril Islands, explaining the difference between a treaty or pact and a declaration.

Finally, Part II describes the strategic value and the economic value of the Kuril Islands. The Southern Kuril Islands are Russia's only exit into the Pacific. By conceding the Southern Kuril Islands to Japan, Russia would immediately lose its only exit and only ice-free port, and end up being cut off from the Pacific. Besides, there is enormous economic value to be derived from the South Kuril Islands with rich fishery and underground resources. Comparing that value with the economic aid to be received from Japan is in itself wrong.

I.B. Tkachenko, the author of this book, is an economist. But reading his book, I get the impression as though he knew by heart all the treaties and other resources, including the Charter of the United Nations and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. I even feel that perhaps I should be forgiven for assuming the whole time I read this book that he was an expert in international law. His detailed analysis of the treaty texts, his explanation in terms of international law, and his careful collection and organization of materials, and the attachments that he provides for the readers show that he is a brilliant scholar. I think that The Kuril Islands: Historical, Legal, Policy, and Economic Issues is an excellent book that will prove very useful to those interested in border and territorial disputes, including the one over Dokdo.