뉴스레터

On Saturday, February 22, 2014, a ceremony commemorating Takeshima Day and a meeting of Shimane residents calling for the reversion of Takeshima and the Northern Territories were held at the Shimane City Hall, although neither of them should have happened considering the present Korea-Japan relations. This is the 9th ceremony of Takeshima Day, which was initiated by Japan's conservative politicians on February 22, 2005 on the occasion of the 100th year since Japan's seizure of Dokdo. This year's ceremony was attended by Yoshitami Kameoka (龜岡偉民), Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office, and sixteen Diet members, which is a slightly fewer number than it was last year. For two years in a row, a high-ranking official from the central government was in attendance. But even Shimane residents showed lukewarm response to this ceremony which proved to be a 'feast of frivolities' by Japan's conservative politicians. Japan's provocative claims to Dokdo are getting worse and have reached the point where it is taken for granted that central government officials attend these ceremonies.

As the ceremony began, the organizers and guests were introduced, and the Governor and the Chairman of the Parliament of Shimane Prefecture presented requests (calling for: creating an enlightened public opinion, conducting international promotion, independently bringing the matter to the International Court of Justice, making a Cabinet decision necessary to hold government events, establishing development facilities related to Dokdo and remote islands on the Oki Islands. seeking special support for remote islands on the border, strengthening school education, establishing demarcation lines a management system in the exclusive economic zones). And a Letter of Special Appreciation was presented to the five people who provided useful materials for research. Once the introduction of the guests was over, the Diet members and other attendants took the podium by turns to talk about Korea's Dokdo policy. Governor of Shimane Prefecture Zembe Mizoguchi said, "The Abe administration has set up the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination on Territory Sovereignty under the Cabinet Secretariat, an office dedicated to dealing with territorial issues. As a result, the long-time wish of Shimane Prefecture has been granted. In other words, the Japanese government has demonstrated their national-level commitment to dealing with territorial issues." When Chairman of the Shimane Parliament Sumihisa Iokawa (五百川純壽) was introduced, there were jeers and boors from the audience, who shouted to him, "Go to Korea", "Pathetic", or "Wicked bandit," because he was the one who opposed the incumbent parliament's resolution to deny the Kono Statement regarding 'comfort women.' However, Iokawa was no different from other Japanese politicians because he also insisted that Dokdo was illegally occupied by Korea and Japan should bring this issue to the International Court of Justice. As we have seen, the Governor and the Chairman of the Parliament of Shimane Prefecture are oblivious to historical facts about sovereignty over Dokdo, and simply obsessed about fulfilling their own political agenda. And this is aggravating Korea-Japan relations.

Pressing Ahead with the Event Despite the Complete Neglect from Local Residents

And the representatives of the government and the parties went on to make unilateral claims about Dokdo. Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office Kameoka said, "Dokdo is an inherent part of Japanese territory historically and under international law. For this reason, the Abe administration appointed the Minister in Charge of Territorial Integrity for the first time the year before last, and he is at the center of the efforts of all the relevant ministries and offices to spread the correct perception of territorial issues across the nation and the world." This is the same as what Aiko Shimariji (Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office) said when she attended the ceremony last year as the first government official to do so. Takeshita, representing the Liberal Democratic Party, also joined in making unilateral claims by saying, "Even though Dokdo is without doubt an inherent part of Japanese territory historically and under international law, Korea has occupied it illegally since it declared the Syngman Rhee Line, and refuses to accept Japan's request for judicial resolution." Watanabe, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Japan, made an even more provocative comment: "If it is no good trying to persuade Korea about the Dokdo issue, we should advertise Japan's position to the whole world." Sakurauchi from the Japan Restoration Party stressed that "(his party) was in the process of reviewing the matters of the foreigner's ownership of land and of the right of collective self-defense," and said, "Dokdo has been under the illegal occupation of Korea for a long time."

If Japan continues to lay provocative claims to Dokdo as above, it will only jeopardize Korea-Japan relations. And Japan will have to assume all the resulting responsibilities. And if this event escalates into central-government levels, just as some of the Diet members said it should, the implications will be serious for Korea-Japan relations. The politicians said what they said in this event simply to 'comfort those conservatives present,' rather than to show consideration for the neighboring countries or improve Korea-Japan relations. Local residents paid no attention to this event, and frowned on the street protests around the city hall that had become nothing more than an outlet for conservatives. Why do the conservatives of Japan press ahead with such an event that is not even welcome by local residents?

The Event's Quality Much Lower Than Last Year

The politicians' messages were followed by a series of lectures under the theme of "100 Questions and Answers About Takeshima." The speakers included: Shimozo Masao (Professor at Takushoku University and Chairman of Takeshima Society in Shimane Prefecture); Tsukamoto Takashi (Professor of Law at Tokai University); Fujii Genji (teacher at Himeji High School); and Sasaki Shigeru (teacher at Matsuyoshi High School). Tsukamoto, whose topic was about international law, explained the organization of his book and the meaning of inherent territory. He explained that the term 'inherent territory' referring to Takeshima "is not a legal term with definite meaning, but it simply means that (Takeshima) has always been Japanese territory." But he was ambiguous about it as he said, "Whether it means Japanese territory historically or it means territory obtained from another country as a result from war is subject to interpretation." Fujii gave a detailed explanation about the Syngman Rhee Line (Peace Line) and the McArthur Line, and mentioned the damages (6 billion yen or more) inflicted on Japan by the Syngman Rhee Line, which, I was startled to hear, was to assert Japan's claims against Korea in the future. Sasaki said that "education is considered important in the Takeshima Day law," and mentioned the primary and secondary education related to Dokdo, the textbooks developed by Shimane Prefecture, and the basic direction of education. In the general discussion, Shimozo made an inflammatory speech: "The Korean government is addressing Dokdo in connection with 'comfort women' and the history of Koguryo in order to seal the Dokdo issue." He went on to say that "Obama's visit to Japan in April could be an opportunity to actively promote Japan's position on Takeshima," and asked, "What will Korea do if I and Diet members are to visit the Dokdo Museum Seoul of the Northeast Asian History Foundation?"

Overall, the Takeshima Day event this year was much worse than last year in terms of the quality of the contents of speeches. Much of what the Diet members said was false, and there were fewer Diet members present than last year. The event did nothing more than 'comforting those present' with the remark that "this event had been elevated to the status of a government-led event" because Parliamentary Secretary of the Cabinet Office Kameoka had been sent to attend this event. Nevertheless, it seems likely that this event will be held again next year, because the Abe administration is showing no signs of fixing its wrong historical perception, and the postwar generations now dominating Japan's politics haven't apologized or repented properly for Japan's wrongdoing before the war. Dokdo is the first Korean territory to fall victim to Japan's pillage of the Korean Peninsula during the Russo-Japanese War. It seems that Japan will step up its provocative claims to Dokdo in various ways. Japan's provocative claims to Dokdo are preponderous as they are based on backwards thinking in history. We need a firm response to their groundless claims.