Liancourt Rocks

"Takeshima" redirects here. For other uses, see Takeshima (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox Dokdo Dokdo is a group of disputed islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) currently administered by South Korea, but also claimed by Japan (where they are known as Takeshima). The islets are also known as the Liancourt Rocks, after the French whaling ship Liancourt, which charted the islets in 1849. The Korean Central News Agency of North Korea refers to them as Tok Islet in its English-language articles, and supports control of the islands by "the Korean nation".[5]

South Korea claims it as Korean territory from records that date back to the sixth century, and the 1900 Korean Empire ordinance officially incorporating it into the modern Ulleung County. Japanese claims come from seventeenth century records, as well as a "terra nullius" incorporation in 1905. Today, South Korea classifies the islets as a part of Ulleung County, North Gyeongsang Province, while Japan classifies them as part of Okinoshima Town, Oki District, Shimane Prefecture.

Geography

Dokdo is composed mainly of two islets, 150 meters apart (Seodo and Dongdo in Korean, Nishi-jima and Higashi-jima in Japanese; both literally meaning western island and eastern island, respectively). The western islet is the larger of the two islets. Altogether, there are about 90 islets and reefs, volcanic rocks formed in the Cenozoic era. A total of 37 of these islets are recognized as permanent land.

The total area of the islets is about 187,450 square meters, with their highest point at 169 meters in the western islet. The western islet is about 88,640 square meters in area; the eastern islet about 73,300 square meters. Dokdo is located at about 131°52′ East longitude and about 37°14′ North latitude. The western islet is located at 37°14′31″N 131°51′55″E and the eastern islet is located at 37°14′27″N 131°52′10″E. The islets are 217 km from mainland Korea and 250 km from mainland Japan. The nearest Korean territory (Ulleung-do) is 87 km away and can be visible on fair days; the nearest Japanese territory (Oki Islands) is 157 km away.

The western islet consists of a single peak and features many caves along the coastline. The cliffs of the eastern islet are about 10 to 20 meters high. There are two caves giving access to the sea, as well as a crater.

Economy

Although the islets themselves are barely habitable, the Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding them has rich fishing grounds and possible reserves of natural gas. As of 2006, no gas has been found. A wide variety of fish as well as seaweed, kelp, sea slugs, and clams are located around Dokdo. Major fishery catches in the area are squid, Alaskan pollack, codfish, and octopus. There are 102 species of seaweed, although many of these have no economic value.

Until the 1940s, fur seals were observed on Dokdo.

There are around 37 South Korean police, Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries personnel, a married Korean couple (whose occupation is fishing), and three lighthouse keepers living on the islets. In the past, several fishermen have also lived there.

Tourism

Due to their status as a nature reserve, special permits are required for tourists seeking to land on the islets rather than just circling them. There were 1,507 and 1,597 recorded tourists in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Visitors generally come by boat from Ulleung-do.

In 2005, the first wedding ceremony was held on Dokdo. The South Korean couple chose the location to protest against Japanese territorial claims.

Climate

Due to its location and extremely small size, Dokdo sometimes has harsh weather. At times, ships are unable to dock because of strong northwestern winds in winter. The climate is warm and humid, and heavily influenced by warm sea currents. Precipitation is high throughout the year (annual average - 1324mm), with occasional snowfall. Fog is a common sight. In the summer, southernly winds dominate. The water around the islets is about 10 degrees Celsius in spring, when the water is coolest. It warms to about 25 degrees Celsius in August.

Ecology

Like Ulleung-do, the islets are volcanic rocks, with only a thin layer of soil and moss. About 80 species of plants, over 22 species of birds, and 37 species of insects have been recorded on the islets, in addition to the local maritime life.

Since the early 1970s, trees and some types of flowers were planted along with the indigenous flora and fauna. (Trees are required under international law for the islets to be recognized as natural islands rather than reefs.)

Dokdo was declared "Natural Monument #336" by South Korea in the 1990s. While home to some birds, the islets mostly provide temporary refuge for birds migrating elsewhere. They serve as a home to fork-tailed petrel, streaked shearwater, and black-tailed gulls. The population of breeding birds counted on the rocks, however, has been declining in recent years.

In 1999, the islets were designated a special environmental protected area by the South Korean government. They predate any other Korean volcanic islands, including Ulleung-do.

Strategic location

The islets are of importance not only for economic reasons, but also for military reasons. They have occasionally served as a military base, most notably during the Russo-Japanese War. The South Korean government has built a radar station and helicopter landing pad on the islets, enabling it to track foreign naval forces. The 37 police on the islets serve as armed guards.

History

Korea and Japan have a long, complex history of cultural exchange, war, and political rivalry (see: Korean-Japanese disputes). The islets are the last disputed territory between Korea and Japan following World War II.

The Three Kingdoms period

In 1145, Samguk Sagi (Chronicles of Three Kingdoms) recorded that the state of Usan (Usan-guk), an island kingdom located on Ulleung-do and asserted to have encompassed several surrounding islets, was conquered and "re-integrated" into the Korean kingdom of Silla in 512. Samguk Sagi mentions that another name of Usan-state is Ulleung-do.

Korea argues that Dokdo was called Usan-do and was a part of Usan-guk, based on later Joseon dynasty records such as the Yeojiji and Man'gi yoram. Thus far no sources supporting Japan argue against or mention the claims made in the Joseon Dynasty records, although a number of historians in Japan reject the theory that Dokdo was a part of Usan-guk, disputing the Korean interpretation of the Samguk Sagi.

The Joseon and Edo Period

Man'gi yoram ("Handbook of State Affairs") from 1808 quotes the earlier Yeojiji ("Gazette") that Ulleungdo and Dokdo all belonged to Usan-guk.

Taejong-sillok (Annals for King Taejong) recorded that 60 people were living on Yusan-guk-do (Yusan-state-island) and in 1412, and 86 people living on Usan-do in 1417.

The Sejong Sillok ("Chronicle of King Sejong", 1432) mentions Usan-do, but interpretation of the context is disputed. Korean scholars interpret the text as: "Usan-do and Mulung-do (Ulleung-do), located in the sea east of the [Uljin] Prefecture, are close enough to each other that in clear weather the two islands come into view [of each other]", and consider it as evidence that Usan-do refers to Dokdo, the only island that is visible from Ulleungdo only in clear weather. Japanese scholars interpret the latter part as "come into view [from mainland Korea]." They argue that Usan-do refers to Juk-do. Juk-do is 4 km east of Ulleung-do. (The Chinese characters 竹島 are read as Juk-do in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.)

The Don'guk yeoji seungnam ("Augmented Survey of the Geography of the Eastern Nation (Korea)", 1481) defining Korea's territory, stated that "Usando and Ulleungdo are under the jurisdiction of Uljin-hyeon of Gangwon-do as an administrative unit. However, Don'guk yoji sungnam also mentions that the tree and the beach could be clearly seen on a fine day and thus there is another theory that Usan-island and Ulleung-island are the same island.(The distance of Ulleungdo and Dokdo is about 90km and trees can't grow in Dokdo.) The 1531 revision of this book includes the Paldo Chongdo ("Map of the Eight Provinces"), showing two separate islands of Usan-do and Ulleung-do in the middle of the Sea of Japan (in the book called the Eastern Sea). Usando is drawn to the west of Ulleungdo (Dokdo is to the east of　Ulleungdo).

On the Korean cartographs Donguk jido (by Chong Sang-gi, 1678~1752) , Haejwa Jeondo (1822), and Dongguk Jeondo (by Kim Tae-gon, 1821~1846), Usando is displayed. From the Korean point of view, this islet is Dokdo, but Japan construes this to be Jukdo from the distance, shape, size, and direction. However, Korean scholars such as Professor Shin Yong-ha of Hanyang University argue against this by saying that Jukdo, as with Dokdo, is not only also rather small in size, but is even less noteworthy than Dokdo on a map due to its proximity to Ulleungdo, thus making it meaningless to draw it unto a map in the immediate presence of a much larger island while Dokdo, due to its distance, commands a greater need to be displayed on a cartograph to leave no ambiguity concerning the administrative control of the Korean government. Korean scholars also argue that there is little way to infer information from the depiction of minor islands on older drawings due to the fact that their shape is generally more or less the same (that is, all are miniature circles).

From the early fifteenth century to the aftermath of the Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, which were fought primarily between 1592 to 1598 by Joseon and Toyotomi Japan, the government in Korea was unable and unwilling to maintain a civilian population on both Ulleung-do and Dokdo. According to the Taejong Sillok ("Chronicle of King Taejong"), the mainland government forcibly evacuated the islands during King Taejong's reign as according to the "vacant island policy" and thus the islets was only occasionally populated by permanent settlers up to the seventeenth century (a permanent population existed only on Ulleung-do). Following the Seven-Year War, the islands were completely vacated.

Takeshima Tōkai Yuraiki Bassho Hikae, written by Ōya Kyuemon, records that in 1618 the Tokugawa Shogunate granted the Ōya and Murakawa families of Yonago fishing rights, and in 1661, feudal tenure, of "Takeshima", which then referred to Ulleung-do. On the way to Ulleung-do, Japanese fishermen sometimes used the islets, then called in Japanese "Matsushima" (松島), as an intermediate port of call. From the Korean point of view, the grants were invalid because the islets were Korean territory.

The earliest record for Japan's claim on Dokdo comes from Japanese records that Dokdo was their territory since 1618. This is a contradiction of the terra nullius policy adopted later by Shimane Prefecture in 1904 (noted below).

In 1677, the Japanese record Onshu shicho goki ("Records on Observations in Oki Province") was compiled by Saito Hessen in 1667. Saito was a retainer of the daimyo of Izumo (sesshu) and at his lord's behest made an observation trip to Oki Island whereupon he submitted these records to his lord. The record reports the following:

Oki is in the middle of the North Sea and is called Okinoshima. Going further from there for two days and one night in a northwesterly direction, one reaches Matsushima. Also there is Takeshima at another day's travel. These two islands are uninhabited and viewing Goryeo from there is like viewing Oki from Onshu. And thus Matsushima (Ulleung-do) marks the northwestern boundary of Japan.

Considering that this report was compiled from the view of Japan, Matsushima (the closer island) refers to Dokdo and Takeshima (the farther island) refers to Ulleung-do.

The Ahn Yong-bok incident

In the spring of 1693 in the 19th year of King Sukjong about 40 Korean fisherman from Tongrae and Ulsan clashed with the Otani and Murakami fishermen at Ulleung-do. The Japanese proposed that the matter be settled peacefully and asked the Koreans to send their delegates. Ahn Yong-bok and Pak O-dun went to the Japanese side as Korean delegates, but were captured and taken to the lord of Okinoshima.

The lord of Okinoshima soon found the case outside his official competency and sent Ahn to his superior, the magistrate of Hokishu (modern-day Shimane Prefecture). Ahn was then taken to Edo, where the Kanpaku (Imperial regent) of the Tokugawa Shogunate made a note that confirmed Ulleungdo as Korean territory. Ahn was in possession of the note until he was seized en route to Korea by the lord of Nagasaki, where it was confiscated and he was held on the grounds of trespassing onto Japanese territory. Ahn was then held hostage by the governor of Tsushima Island (So Yoshitsugu), but the Tokugawa Shogunate ordered Ahn's release. According to Japanese records, the provincial governor reported the incident to the Tokugawa Shogunate, which warned the governor of Busan, which was home to the Japanese consulate and quarter, to tighten the control of Korean "transgressors". This led to diplomatic friction between Hanseong and Edo.

In 1694, Korea warned Japan to stay away from Ulleung-do, and Japan prohibited Japanese vessels from going to Ulleung-do. As a response to the Korean warning, the Kanpaku issued the following instructions to So Yoshimichi, So Yoshitsugu's successor and new lord of Tsushima (translated into English):

1.Takeshima is about 160-ri (64km) from Oki but only about 40-ri (16km) from Korea; therefore, it can be considered Korean territory as it is nearer to that country.

2.Japanese are forbidden henceforth to make passage to Takeshima.

3.The lord of Tsushima should communicate this to Korea.

4.He should also send the Osakabe Daisuke (judge) of Tsushima to Korea officially to notify the Korean government of this decision and report the result of his mission to the Kanpaku.

In 1696, according to the Sukjong Sillok, Ahn sailed to Ulleung-do and Dokdo again with the company of sixteen fishermen, disguised as a naval officer, and clashed again with the Japanese as Ulleung-do. The Japanese said they were living on Matsushima (Tokdo) and strayed onto Takeshima (Ullungdo) while fishing and would return. Ahn fulminated at this, demanding to know why the Japanese were, in Ahn's view, living on a Korean island. Arriving in Japan, Ahn had the Tokugawa Shogunate reconfirm in writing that Ulleung-do and Dokdo were Korean possessions.

But as for Dokdo, it is unclear whether the Tokugawa Shogunate regarded the islets as Korean possessions because they were not referred to in the treaty. The South Korean government insists that the area of "Ulleung-do" included Dokdo, as the treaty also mentioned that Japanese sailors should not travel to either island. The Japanese government insists that the Shogunate did not prohibit Japanese from sailing to Dokdo because Japanese fishers continued to fish using the islets. This was even after the prohibition on sailing to Ulleung-do.

Following the diplomatic spat in the seventeenth century, the Sangoku setsujozu ("A Map of Three Adjoining Countries"), a map attached to the Sangoku tsuran zusetsu ("An Illustrated General Survey of Three Countries") was compiled by Hayashi Shihei (1738-1793) and published in 1785. The map shows international boundaries and foreign countries in different colors: Korea is in yellow and Japan in green. On the map Ullungdo and Tokdo are shown in their correct positions in yellow. Alongside the islands Hayashi wrote, "Korea's possessions."

In the Dainihonzu ("Map of Great Japan"), another map attached to An Illustrated General Survey of Three Countries, Hiyashi also treated Ulleungdo and Dokdo as Korean territory in an explanatory note. In the latter part of the 18th century, a Japanese geographer made a map called Soezu ("A Complete Illustrated Map") which uses colors to distinguish national borders and territories: Korea in yellow and Japan in red. Ulleungdo and Dokdo are not identified by name, but are shown in yellow in their accurate positions and described as "Korea's possessions."

Regardless, some have commented that any remaining historical documents are so ambiguous that it is not easy to interpret which recorded term refers to which island.

Other Maps and records

• Chosen Hachido-no Zu (1758) depicts Ulleung-do and Dokdo as one big island within Korean territory, according to Korean scholars. Some Japanese scholars believe the map only shows Ulleung-do as a territory of Usan-guk (state).
• Sangoku Tsuran Yochi Rotei Zensu (1785) depicts as Korean territory a small island located next to Ulleung-do. Korean scholars believe this to depict Dokdo, but Japanese scholars believe it corresponds to Juk-do.
• Dae Dong Yeo Ji Do (1861), an incomplete map of Korea, includes Dokdo, according to Korean scholars.
• Historical Geography of Great Japan (大日本地名辞書, Dai Nippon Chimei Jisho), 1900) records that when the local government of Shimane prefecture asked the Japanese Meiji government whether Dokdo would be merged into Shimane, the government in 1877 responded that Japan had no relation with the islets.

In 1849, a French whaler from Le Havre by the name of Le Liancourt, named the islets "Rochers de Liancourt" in 1849. In 1854, the Russians called them the "Manalai and Olivutsa Rocks" upon their first sighting and, in 1855, the English started calling them the "Hornet Rocks".

The inconsistent use of the names "Takeshima" and "Matsushima" in Japanese documents leaves room for dispute. Most Japanese documents and maps after 1905 use the name Takeshima or place the islets in Korean territory outright under the title Dokdo, while pre-1905 documents tend to use Takeshima, Matsushima, or entirely exclude the islets.

In 1877, the Japanese Dajokan (Council of State) issued the following ruling, (translated into English):

In response to the compilation of the cadastre for Takeshima and another island in the Sea of Japan as per Home Office Inquiry.

Knowing that our country has nothing to do with them as the result of the communication between our old government and that country involved after the entry into the island by the Koreans in the fifth year of the Genroku, and having examined the view stated in the inquiry, the following draft instruction has been made for deliberation and sanction.

Draft Introduction-

In reference to Takeshima and another island, it is to be understood that our country has nothing to do with them.

On October 25 1900, the Korean Empire issued Korean Government Imperial Ordinance 41, incorporating the islands of Ulleung-do, Juk-do (竹島), and Seok-do (石島) into Ulleung County. The Korean government regards "Seok-do" as the island they now call Dok-do because 石島(Seok-do) is pronounced "Dok-do" in the Gyeongsang and Jeolla dialects. Article ・ of the ordinance designated Taehadong as the kun office venue and defined the jurisdiction of the Uldo country magistrate as extending over the whole of Ulleung-do, Juk-do, and Seok-do. Here Juk-do refers to Jukseo-do, a rocky islet adjoining Ullungdo that was confirmed by Yi Kyu-won in his diary during an inspection trip there.

A majority of the people who settled on Ulleungdo were from Jeolla Province. In the dialect of that region dol (meaning rock; seok or 石 in Hanja) is pronounced as dok, thus dol-seom (literally rocky island) becomes dok-seom. As a result the government registered the island as Seok-do or 石島 in the Chinese writing system —the preferred method of transcription- which had remained official (as was Latin under the Roman Empire and French after the Norman conquest in Great Britain) even after the creation of Hangul as the indigenous Korean alphabet in 1447.

Similar cases can be found not only in the names of islands but also those of valleys. This is especially true for the southern regions of Korea. In some cases Dok-seom is pronounced Dokdo and is written with the Chinese characters 獨島. The sound dok or dol is the Chinese character 獨, and 島 is the Chinese character for island — namely, som or to.

Although the government adopted the name of Seok-do for Dokdo when the ordinance came into effect, the residents of Ullungdo called the island either Seok-do or Dokdo.

The Japanese first referred to this island as Dokdo in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war when the Japanese warship Niitakago was sent to Ulleungdo to investigate the area in preparation for the building of a watchtower on Dokdo. An entry in the report dated September 25 1904 reads (translated into English):

The Liancourt Rocks are called Dokdo by the Koreans and are referred to as that by the Korean government which has exercised sovereignty over Dokdo (Seok-do) since 1900 by the promulgation of Imperial Ordinance No.41 and the appointment of the country magistrate.

Japan, however, makes use of the inconsistency of terms used for the islands and claims that Korea is short of evidence that makes "Seok-do" "Dokdo". Some Japanese researchers claim Seok-do to be a different island now called Kwaneum-do(관음도) and that Korean government did not regard Dokdo as its territory at the time.

During the Russo-Japanese War and increasing Japanese influence over Korea, Takeshima was proclaimed a part of Shimane prefecture in Japan under the doctrine of terra nullius (although this presumption is no longer mentioned in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs following the release of Korean Imperial Ordinance 41) on January 28, 1905. The Koreans were not notified of the annexation until March 23, 1906, when Korea had already become a Japanese protectorate under the Protectorate Treaty of 1905 and thus had no power to protest the Japanese government's actions. The South Korean government claims this incorporation is invalid because it was done covertly. Japan, on the other hand, claims it was not done secretly and was reported in newspapers and that it does not violate any international laws. Notably, however, the Japanese did not contact other countries of its annexation of Dokdo as it did with the acquisition of the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands in the Pacific, when it contacted Great Britain and the U.S. several times, which were only remotely involved in them, as well as notified 12 European countries of its establishment of control over the islands. (In any case, the previously-held claim of terra nullius creates a contradiction in the Japanese argument: if the islands had been Japanese territory since 1618, the terra nullius policy would have been incorrect, while if the terra nullius policy had been right, the Japanese claim of historical ownership over the islets would be void.)

After World War II

Upon Japan's defeat in World War II and occupation by the Allies, the SCAP Instruction #677 of January 29, 1946 excluded Dokdo from Japan's administrative authority.

For the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaidō, Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku) and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands, including the Tsushima Islands and the Ryūkyū (Nansei) Islands north of 30° North Latitude (excluding Kuchinoshima Island); and excluding

(a) Utsuryo (Ullung) Island, Liancourt Rocks (Take Island), and Kuelpart (saishu or Cheju) Island,

(b) the Ryūkyū (nansei) Islands south of 30° North Latitude (including Kuchinoshima Island), the Izu, Kanpo, Bonin (Ogasawara) and Volcano (Kazan or Iwo) Island Groups, and all other outlying Pacific Islands including the Daito (Ohigashi or Gagari) Islands Group, and Parace Vela (Okino-tori), Kercus (Kinami-tori) and Canges (Nakano-tori) Islands, and

(c) the Kurile (Chishima) Islands, the Habomai (Hapomazo) Islands Group (including Suisho, Yuri, Aki-yuri, Shibotsu and Taraku Islands) and Shikotan Island.

All islands mentioned in (a), other than Dokdo, were returned to South Korea. Those mentioned in (b) were eventually returned to Japan. Those mentioned in (c), for the most part, remain in Russian control (though disputed by Japan). The instruction stated that "nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration."

A similar description is seen in Article 5 of SCAP Instruction #1033 that became the origin of the MacArthur (Douglas MacArthur) line. SCAPIN are instructions of occupation forces based on international law of war, and not treaties between subjects.

Several official memoranda recorded in the Foreign Relations of the United States between 1949 and 1951 appear to side with Japan's view and are occasionally described as "proof" of American support such as the Rusk documents.

CIA documents from 1951 uncovered recently in the port city of Busan indicate that the U.S. believed Japan renounced its claim to Dokdo by signing the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

Many territories under Japanese possession during the war were given up by the Treaty of San Francisco signed in 1951:

Article 2: (a) Japan, recognizing the independence of Korea, renounces all right, title and claim to Korea, including the islands of Quelpart [Jeju-do], Port Hamilton [Geomun-do], and Dagelet [Ulleung-do].

Japan argues that Dokdo is not named because the parties accepted its claim over the islets. Korea responds that Article 2 is stated to be non-exclusive, silent on other Korean islets like Mara-do, and that the silence means SCAPIN 677's exclusion of Dokdo from Japanese territory remains in effect

In 1951, during the Korean War, Lieutenant General John B. Coulter affiliated with the U.S. Army in Korea requested and received permission from South Korea to use the islets for military exercises, though it is unknown whether such permission was also requested of Japan. Barely a year later, on July 26 1952, the United States made a security agreement with Japan listing the island as a "facility of the Japanese Government."

Today, the United States avoids the issue, hoping it can be solved by Japan and Korea amicably.

Armed confrontations

South Korean President Syngman Rhee's (Syngman Rhee line) declaration of January 18, 1952, included Dokdo as a Korean territory. On January 12, 1953, South Korea ordered its army to enforce its claim on the islets, and on April 20, 1953 South Korean volunteer coastguardsmen set up camp. According to Japan, five Japanese fishermen were shot to death, 3,929 Japanese fishermen and 328 fishing boats were abducted and detained in South Korea as hostages for crossing the line between 1952 and 1965. The fishermen were released in 1965 in return for the release of 472 Koreans imprisoned in Japan.

On June 27, 1953, two Japanese Coast Guard vessels briefly landed and erected a territorial post on the islets. Several armed skirmishes followed, leading to the sinking of a Japanese ship by Korean mortar fire on July 12, 1953. Similar incidents occurred on April 21, 1954 and August 24, 1954.

In September 1954, Japan protested and suggested arbitration action at the International Court of Justice, but the offer was fiercely rejected by South Korea. After the incidents, in 1954, South Korea built a lighthouse and a helicopter landing pad on the islets, which it has regularly administered ever since.

The issue of sovereignty over Dokdo was omitted from the 1965 Basic Relations Treaty

Current situation

The dispute occasionally resurfaces, such as when South Korea built a wharf on the islets in 1996 and declared them a Natural Monument in 2002, spurred by a controversial Japanese textbook that called South Korea's control of the islets "illegal" that same year. Most Koreans regard Japan's claims to the islets as a sign of Japan's unrepentant expansionism.

In June 2005, a South Korean official guideline demanded that Dokdo be neither be referred to in its individual elements or as a whole as ‘islands’, ‘islet(s)’ or ‘rock(s)’, but in the singular form ‘island’ “to reflect the island character of Dokdo as well as Dongdo [and] Seodo”

In the same year, Japan's Shimane prefecture designated February 22 Takeshima Day, to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Japan's claim to the islets and boost public interest in Japan about the dispute. In response, Korea's Masan municipality passed the Daemado Day bill, commemorating General Yi Jong Mu's conquest of the Tsushima Island in 1419.

Over 900 Korean citizens list the islets as their residence, while over 2,000 Japanese do the same. However, only two people, a married Korean couple, are actual permanent residents. Korean telecom service providers (namely SK Telecom, KTF, and LG Telecom) have also installed stations on Dokdo to cover the islets in the South Korean wireless telephone network. There is also regular ferry service from Ulleung-do.

In 2004 South Korea issued a set of stamps depicting the wildlife of Dokdo under that name, implying an ownership claim. The Japanese government formally protested this action as a violation of the spirit of the Universal Postal Union charter. Similar stamp series had been printed in 2002 and even 1954. The stamp dispute was allegedly linked to a series of denial of service attacks and other Internet campaigns between Koreans and Japanese.

2006 Japanese maritime survey

In April 2006, Japan dispatched two ships to Dokdo to conduct a maritime survey near the islets, without formally notifying South Korea. In response, the South Korean government dispatched eighteen patrol ships to the islets, warning the Japanese government not to go through with its plans. South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon emphasized that Seoul was "preparing counter-measures for all scenarios", leading some in the media to speculate that the South Korean military may try to capture the Japanese ships.

South Korea maintained that the proposed maritime survey would encroach on its EEZ surrounding the islets, and that such a move must be accompanied by advance notice according to international law. For its part, Japan denied any attempt to enter the EEZ, stating that all activities would take place inside its own waters. Because of the competing claims to the islets, both South Korea and Japan have claimed the area in which the hydrological survey would be conducted as part of their EEZ. On April 19 2006, The Korea Times reported that South Korean officials viewed Japanese actions as an attempt to bring the dispute over the islets to an international court. On April 20, 2006, the Korean government refused to take the matter to the International Court of Justice. The Japanese officials stated that the maritime survey ship would not enter the area near the islets on April 20, as previously planned, but it would still maintain that no diplomatic agreement has been reached between the two governments.

On April 20, 2006, The Chosun Ilbo and The Japan Times both stated that at least one of the main reasons for the maritime survey arose from a naming dispute between South Korea and Japan. Several of the features on the sea floor within South Korea's claimed EEZ carry Japanese names, which in turn led to South Korea's plan to propose Korean names for the features at an international conference in Germany over the naming of submarine features.

An agreement to end the dispute was eventually reached during meetings on April 22 and 23 between the South Korean and Japanese vice foreign ministers, in which Japan agreed to suspend the survey, while Korea agreed not to push forward its proposal "until an appropriate time," although the Japanese side interpreted this as the period of the IHO meeting in June.

2006 South Korean maritime survey

On 5 July 2006 a South Korean survey ship entered the disputed waters around the islets. The Japanese foreign ministry called the survey "extremely regrettable", and lodged a complaint with the South Korean ambassador in Tokyo.

2006 Japanese Radioactive Waste Survey

The chief cabinet secretary of Japan, Shinzo Abe, announced on 2 August 2006 that Japan had indicated through the newly proposed bilateral mutual notification procedures to Korea of its intention to have the Japan Coast Guard conduct a radioactive waste survey near the disputed islets from late August to early September. Japan did not specify exactly where or when the survey would take place, and markedly did not request permission, simply that it was within "Japan's EEZ" area. Abe stated the survey would be held at a appropriate time as a direct response to "South Korea's survey in the Japan-claimed EEZ in early July".

Mutual Notification Talks

The latest surveys prompted an agreement to discuss notification procedures for both nations. Reportedly, mandating notification of each other whenever undertaking a study or survey in the disputed area where their claimed EEZs overlap will be discussed. This marks a step forward, as South Korea has in the past refused to discuss this issue, which Japan had repeatedly proposed.

See also

• Japanese-Korean relations
• Korean-Japanese disputes
• Kuril Islands
• Socotra Rock
• Senkaku Islands
• Okinotori

References

• Korea Times Dokdo Hosts First Civilians in a Decade. Retrieved 22 February, 2006.

External links

• South Korean government's perspective on Dokdo via Korea.net
• Cyber Dokdo: a web page by the Gyeongsangbuk province, South Korea
• Takeshima is Japanese territory: a web page by the Shimane Prefectural Government, Japan
• Japan's position on Takeshima by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• The Territorial Dispute Over Dokdo, compiled by Mark S. Lovmo
• Tokdo Dispute History by Kalani O'Sullivan
• Tokdo or Takeshima? The International Law of Territorial Acquisition in the Japan-Korea Island Dispute, Sean Fern, Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, Volume 5 Number 1 (Winter 2005), pp.78-89 (PDF)
• "Day on the Dokdo Islands", an American's photographs of his trip to the islets.
• "North Korea Denounces Japanese Territorial Claims on Dokdo", Yonhap via Yahoo news
• dodkdonews.net: News updates on the disputed islets