2024-07-12 23:22:43
Japan’s “Inherent Territory” Claim Since 2005
Government summons Japanese foreign affairs and defense officials to protest
Progress from last year’s ‘Korea-Japan security cooperation is important’
“China, a strategic challenge… North Korea, an imminent threat”
The Japanese government has repeated its false claim for 20 years since 2005, referring to Dokdo as its “inherent territory” in this year’s Defense White Paper. The Korean government summoned officials from the Japanese Embassy in Korea to protest and demand that Japan immediately withdraw its false claim to Dokdo.
However, Japan emphasized the intention of cooperation between the two countries in the security sector by pointing to Korea as a cooperative partner in the white paper. It diagnosed the current international situation as the “greatest ordeal since World War II” and expressed strong concerns about China’s military expansion. It is interpreted as meaning that we must cooperate with friendly countries, including Korea, to counter military threats from North Korea, Russia, and China.
● Emphasize security cooperation amidst false claims about Dokdo
The Japanese government stated in its 2024 Defense White Paper adopted by the Cabinet on the 12th, “The issues of Takeshima (the Japanese name for Dokdo), which are inherently Japanese territories, and the Northern Territories (the Japanese term for the four Kuril Islands under Russia’s effective control) still remain unresolved.”
The Defense White Paper map shows Dokdo as being within Japanese territorial waters and writes “Takeshima territorial issue” at the location of Dokdo. The Japanese government repeats its false claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory every year in its Diplomatic Bluebook, which contains the details of its diplomatic activities, and in elementary, middle, and high school textbooks.
The South Korean government immediately protested. In a statement by a spokesperson, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, “We strongly protest the repeated unjust territorial claims to Dokdo, which is clearly our inherent territory historically, geographically, and under international law. We urge an immediate withdrawal.” Kim Sang-hoon, director-general of the Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Daisuke Mibae, head of the Japanese Embassy in Korea, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to convey his protest. Lee Seung-beom, director-general for international policy at the Ministry of National Defense, summoned Yohei Takeda, head of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force Defense Attaché in Korea, to the Ministry of National Defense to urge immediate corrective action and future cessation.
However, Japan reaffirmed its policy of strengthening cooperation between Korea, Japan, and the US, by referring to Korea as a “partner” for the first time in the white paper this year. The Japanese government evaluated Korea in the defense white paper as “an important neighboring country with which we must cooperate as a partner in responding to various challenges in the international community.” This is an advanced expression from last year, when it stated that “(security cooperation between the two countries) is becoming increasingly important.”
The portion related to Korea increased from 2 pages last year to 3.5 pages this year. It also introduced in detail the fact that the two countries drafted an agreement to prevent a recurrence of the early warning aircraft-radar conflict at the Korea-Japan Defense Ministerial Meeting held in Singapore last month. Considering that the Japanese Defense White Paper usually describes events that occurred 3-4 months before publication, it seems that it was considered important content and was included at the end, which is unusual.
He also wrote, “We have confirmed progress, including real-time sharing of North Korea’s missile alert data,” along with a photo from the Korea-US-Japan summit held at Camp David in the United States in August last year.
● Beware of Chinese military expansion
Japan expressed strong concern in its Defense White Paper about the current international situation, saying, “We cannot rule out the possibility that a serious incident like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could occur in the Indo-Pacific, especially in East Asia, in the future.”
In particular, he expressed his wariness toward China, saying that it is “a country that does not share a system based on universal values,” and that it is “a matter of serious concern and the greatest strategic challenge ever.” Regarding North Korea, he wrote that it is “an even more serious and imminent threat,” saying that it already has the ability to mount nuclear weapons on ballistic missiles that can reach Japan.
The Chinese government did not hide its displeasure with the Japanese defense white paper, which showed a sense of wariness toward China. In a briefing that day, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “Japan is violently interfering in China’s internal affairs, exaggerating the so-called Chinese threat and regional situation.” It continued, “On the contrary, Japan has recently increased its defense budget every year and has continuously eased restrictions on arms exports,” expressing concern over Japan’s military expansion.
Tokyo = Correspondent Lee Sang-hoon [email protected]
Beijing = Correspondent Kim Chul-jung [email protected]
Reporter Shin Jin-woo [email protected]
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2024-07-12 23:22:43