뉴스레터

One year has passed since the launch of the Abe administration of Japan. Korea-Japan relations have been going sour ever since, and this diplomatic feud is now spilling over into the national sentiments of the two peoples toward each other. To say that Korea-Japan relations are being driven over the edge wouldn't be an overstatement. According to the opinion poll released by the Japanese government in October 2013, only 40.7 percent of the Japanese people surveyed answered that they felt friendly toward Korea. The Korean sentiment toward Japan is also going from bad to worse by the day, what with the Japanese government laying provocative claims to Dokdo and making frivolous remarks on 'comfort women.' Although Korea-Japan relations have had their ups and downs, it is unprecedented that the heads of the two states haven't even met for a summit talk yet since they each took office. What could be the causes? The political leaders of Japan who show their backwards thinking in history by visiting Yasukuni Shrine or denying 'comfort women,' or continue to lay provocative claims to Dokdo are certainly to blame.

The Abe Administration Fulfills its Campaign Promises Concerning Territory

Since early 2013, the Abe administration has been implementing territorial policies as promised by the LDP during the election campaigns. These policies are focused particularly on promotion at home and abroad. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA) produced a video in nine languages, including English and Korean, claiming that Dokdo is Japanese territory, and posted it to their official site on October 31, 2013. And this video is spreading rapidly. In addition, on January 27, 2014, the Ministry of Education of Japan (MEXT) announced a revised version of the Course of Study for secondary schools where it was specified that Dokdo was an 'inherent part of Japanese territory' but now under the 'illegal occupation' of Korea. In January 2014, the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination on Territory and Sovereignty (Territory Office) under the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan opened an online site on territory. All these policies being implemented by the Japanese government are as set forth in the final report (July 2013) submitted by the Advisory Panel on Communications Concerning Territorial Integrity (Advisory Panel) under the Minister in Charge of Territorial Integrity.

During the election campaigns, then the Prime Ministerial candidate Shinzo Abe promised that his administration would be active in responding to territorial issues and efficient in asserting Japan's position to its neighboring countries. He kept his words; in 2013, the Cabinet Secretariat established the Territory Office in February and the Minister in Charge of Territorial Integrity set up the Advisory Panel in April. In July, the Advisory Panel submitted a final report, which offered the Abe administration a framework for its Dokdo policy. The Territory Office's online site on territory, launched on January 24, 2014, also mirrors the suggestions of this final report, which sets forth specific strategies to communicate Japan's territorial claims to Dokdo and the Senkakus at home and abroad, assuming that its claims are correct whereas the claims of the other countries concerned are groundless. In particular, the report stresses that it is necessary for the Japanese government to take the initiative in addressing territorial issues and organize systems that will effectively communicate Japan's claims at home and abroad.

The report also stresses territorial claims to Dokdo and makes two suggestions. The first suggestion is to use the Web for communication in English. Specifically, for strategic and focused communication, the report suggests, it is necessary to select a few points that will effectively communicate Japan's claims to the international community, and provide online, along with resources in English for researchers and journalists, an accurate, easy-to-understand, and rational explanation of why the Japanese government's claims are valid. The second suggestion is that while it is extremely important to develop public opinion at home it is necessary to highlight abroad that even though Korea seized Dokdo in the 1950s and has continued to occupy it illegally, Japan is seeking ways of peaceful resolution under international law, including bringing this issue to the International Court of Justices, instead of resolution by force against justice.

The Official Site of the Territory Office Simply Rehashing the Old Claims

The official site of the Territory Office of the Cabinet Secretariat offers contents and claims that are nothing new. An online site dedicated to addressing territorial issues, it is simply rehashing old claims or contents and provides links to the sites of related organizations, such as the 'Web Dokdo Issue Research Center' of Shimane Prefecture, and the MOFA.

But it is worth nothing that the Territory Office site is addressing the Southern Kuril Islands (known in Japanese as the Northern Territories) and Dokdo (known in Japanese as Takeshima) as territorial issues facing Japan. These areas are highlighted as disputed areas. As for the Senkakus, on the other hand, the phrase 'situation surrounding the Senkaku Islands' is used to stress that they don't think these islands constitute a territorial issue. As for Dokdo, the Japanese government's position is presented in 'Ten Issues of Takeshima' which are essentially identical in content to the video produced last year. It presents Dokdo as an inherent part of Japanese territory and stresses that it has been illegally occupied by Korea since 1952 during the Syngman Rhee administration.

The NAHF Refutes Japan's Claims with 'Ten Truths About Dokdo' Published in Ten Languages

To communicate to the whole world that Japan's claims are wrong, the Northeast Asian History Foundation prepared 'Ten Truths About Dokdo' in ten languages, a pamphlet designed to refute 'Ten Issues of Takeshuma.' The Japanese government claims that 'Dokdo is an inherent part of Japanese territory,' even though such a claim is criticized even by some scholars within Japan. And is the Peace Line (Presidential Proclamation on the Republic of Korea's Sovereignty Over Adjacent Seas) actually illegal as the Japanese government claims? At the time of declaring the Peace Line, Korea offered explanations to the international community. The first was to protect fisheries resources against Japan's reckless fishing. The second was to fulfill the peaceful purpose of preventing disputes with Japan in the sea. The third was to protect against the invasion of communism. Furthermore, the declaration of the Peace Line was in accordance with international law, in response to the moves of coastal states to bolster their maritime sovereignty, such as US President Truman's declaration in 1945, and similar declarations by Chile and Peru in 1947, and by Costa Rica in 1949.

How Should We Respond to Japan's Attempts to Seize Dokdo?

How should we respond to Japan's aggressive attempts to seize Dokdo? To begin with, we need to note that the efforts to formulate and communicate Japan's Dokdo policy are being led by the government. The Japanese government's perception and communication are wrong and responsible for stirring a sentiment within Japan that is hostile toward Korea and creating a newly coined word 'hate speech.' 'Hate speeches' toward the Korean people are serious. Weekly magazines and books in Japan are busy "bashing Korea," pouring out articles that attack Korea. And they are selling well.

First and foremost, it is necessary to develop clear logic that could defeat Japan's claims item by item. Responding to Japan's provocative claims, the Northeast Asian History Foundation is working on analyzing them more clearly and thoroughly instead of staying with the existing logic. The NAHF is also compiling important materials related to Dokdo into a database and translating the key materials into English. To respond more actively to Japan's provocative claims to Dokdo, the NAHF introduces research results through the publication of Territory and Seas while discovering historical records more actively.

The Korean government's uncompromising position on Japan's provocative claims to Dokdo needs to be clarified at home and broad. At the same time, efforts need to be made to effectively communicate to Japanese society that it is a historical fact that Dokdo is Korean territory. We also need a higher level of diplomacy toward Japan in order to prevent the Dokdo issue from stirring up a 'hate Korea' sentiment within Japan and confrontation with the Japanese government from going to extremes. It is clear that the Dokdo issue has became an issue of interest to a majority of the Japanese people. It is also necessary to have policies in place that will prevent this issue from affecting Korean residents in Japan.