Liancourt Rocks dispute
[9] Researchers disagree on who first had administrative control over the islets due to ambiguities in early historical records and maps, owing partly to changes in the names of the islands in the area over the years.
[From Ulleungdo,] to the west can be seen the rugged mountains of Daegwallyeong; beholding the sea to the east, I noticed a faint island in the jin direction [east-south-east], not more than one-third of the size of Ulleung, and not possibly more than 300 li [approximately 100 km] away.
From the early fifteenth century to the aftermath of the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), the Joseon court was unable and unwilling to maintain a civilian population on either Ulleungdo or Usando.
The following year, An Yong-Bok and Park Eo-dun, representing Korean fishing communities, are variously said to have visited, drifted, or even been abducted by Japanese fishermen, arriving at Oki island in 1693.
In the Annals of King Sukjong, the official governmental chronicle, An is reported to have stated that Jasan-do 子山島(sic) was what the Japanese called Matsu-shima 松島 at that time.
"[33] Although the Border Defense Command demanded capital punishment, King Sukjong commuted An's sentence to exile in positive consideration of his successful negotiations with the Edo government that resulted in the "prohibition of all Japanese travelling to Korea for fishing, harvesting, and lumbering for eternity".
[55][56] Japan says that there is no evidence to identify the island "Seokdo" as Liancourt Rocks,[57][58] and that there is no record that proves the effective occupation by Korea before Japanese Cabinet decision of January 28, 1905.
Korea presents evidence that Koreans living on Ulleungdo referred to Liancourt Rocks as Dokseom (or Dolseom; literally "rocky island") in speech and Dokdo 獨島 in writing as a phonetic transcription (음독 音讀, umdok; おんよみ 音読み on-yomi), while the name "Seokdo" 石島 ("rocky island") in the Ordinance was an instance of logographic translation (훈독, 訓讀, hundok; くんよみ 訓読み kun-yomi).
[59][60][61] Korea also states that Liancourt Rocks was effectively managed by seasonal fishermen and divers in recent times[62] as a result of King Gojong's Ulleungdo Reclamation Program (鬱陵島開拓令) issued in Dec 1881.
Article 4 of the treaty has been quoted as giving Japan full authorisation in terms of international law in taking Liancourt Rocks as a strategic surveillance point during the Russo-Japanese War.
[64][65][66] Article 3, however, has been quoted as preventing Japan from appropriating Liancourt Rocks post bellum, and hence ruling the 1905 Shimane incorporation illegal after the end of the war.
'Cabinet decision on January 28, Meiji 38') to incorporate Liancourt Rocks, on grounds that it had been terra nullius under international law:[78][79][80][81][82] "There is no recognizable trace that this uninhabited island was ever occupied by a foreign country ... As evidenced through relevant records that a person by the name of Nakai Yozaburo (中井養三郞) moved to said island in 1903 (Meiji 36) and practiced fishing there since, we recognise the fact that occupation has occurred in terms of international law.
[94] Korea claims the incorporation was invalid in that the Feb 24 San-in Shimbun report lacked official status as its circulation was limited to the Shimane prefectural region.
"[102] Although Hwangseong Shinmun had clearly declared that rumours of the Japanese incorporation of Liancourt Rocks were baseless two months before the July communication,[103] and although the July communication reminded the Resident-General, Itou Hirobumi, of the 1900 Imperial Decree reaffirming Korea's state authority over Liancourt Rocks, there is no evidence that the then Resident-General or any other representation of Imperial Japan raised a formal objection to it.
[104] The recent dispute stems largely from conflicting interpretations of whether Japan's renunciation of sovereignty over its occupied territories after World War II included the Liancourt Rocks.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) Instruction #677 of January 29, 1946, listed the Liancourt Rocks, along with many other islands, as part of those territories over which Japanese administration was to be suspended.
Memorandum for the Japanese Government, AG 091(29 Jan 46)GS(SCAPIN 677), 29 January 1946, subject, "Governmental and Administraive Separation of Certain Outlying Areas from Japan"."
[110] Such a change modifying the status of Liancourt Rocks has never occurred before "SCAP transferred its jurisdiction ... to the United States Army Military Government in Korea on January 29, 1946."
[113][114][115] [116][117] This document largely based on material prepared by Kawakami Kenzo 川上健三, the then treaties expert for Japanese Foreign Office, argued for the Japanese title to Dagelet Is and Liancourt Rocks in the following words:[118] Many of these claims, regardless of their historical verity, and without critical historical review,[121] were emphasised by William J. Sebald, the then political advisor for SCAP in Tokyo, which eventually had a strong formative influence on the position maintained by the Diplomatic Section of SCAP and the US State Department regarding the territorial aspect of the Peace Treaty.
Recent studies by numerous Korean and Japanese scholars such as Baek In-ki (백인기), Shim Mun-bo (심문보), Yu Mirim (유미림), Lee Han-key (이한기), Wada Haruki 和田春樹, and Jeong Taeman (정태만) have disproved many of the claims.
On August 10, 1951, a secret correspondence currently known as the Rusk documents was sent to South Korea communicating the then U.S. position on issues of territorial sovereignty in the Peace Treaty explaining why the US believed Liancourt Rocks were Japanese territory: "[T]his normally uninhabited rock formation was according to our information never treated as part of Korea and, since about 1905, has been under the jurisdiction of the Oki Islands Branch Office of Shimane Prefecture of Japan.
On July 18, 1952, South Korea issued a presidential order to seize all illegal foreign vessels engaging in fishing in breach of the Peace Line.
The Republic of Korea Navy had initially submitted an itinerary to the United Nations Naval Commander in Busan (CTG 95.7) on Sep 7 of the expedition to visit Ulleungdo Island and Liancourt Rocks September 14 and 15.
Granted approval to travel to said areas by CTG 95.7, the expedition departed Busan on Sep 12 unaware of the United States-Japan Joint Committee's bombing plan over Liancourt Rocks for Sept 15.
There exists a fair chance that ... American bombs may cause loss of life ... which will bring the Korean efforts to recapture these islands into more prominent play, and may involve the United States unhappily in the implications of that effort.US State Department answered to US Embassy Korea and Tokyo on Nov 14, 1952: It appears that the Department has taken the position that these rocks belong to Japan and has so informed the Korean Ambassador in Washington. ...
Therefore we should also press new ROK regime to return Takeshima to Japan.Further he said:[152] While we should press strongly for return of Takeshima to Japan, if by any chance new regime were unwilling to do so we should, as very minimum, insist that they agree to submit matter to International Court of Justice for arbitration.In September 1954 and March 1962, Japan proposed to South Korea that the dispute be referred to the International Court of Justice, but South Korea rejected the proposals.
Sebald added, "It is important for Japan to keep its claim alive and not to permit its rights to be prejudiced by default ... A note to the ROK or other periodic formal statements would serve this purpose.
When Embassy Minister Shigenobu Shima asked whether this constituted US recognition of the validity of Japan's claim, Sebald responded, "US relations with the ROK had recently improved," noting, "The US-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty is being brought into force on November 17 ...
[164] On July 14, 2008, South Korea temporarily recalled its ambassador to Japan,[165] after the Japanese government decided to mention the dispute over the islands in the "Commentary to the Curriculum Guideline" (学習指導要領解説, Gakushū shidō yōryō kaisetsu) for social study classes in junior high school.
[166] The Korean Coast Guard strengthened its early warning system as a preventative measure against any possible attempt by Japanese right-wing groups to land on the islets.
