Former Japanese Prime Minister: "Dokdo is Korean territory recognized by the United States"

Former Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama Posts Message Affirming "Dokdo is Korean Land"
If Not Changed, Korean Olympic Boycott Remarks Reported

A map of Japan on the Tokyo Olympics homepage marking Dokdo with a small dot (left), and an example map showing the correct way to indicate Dokdo provided to the Japanese side (right).
[Photo by Seokyeongdeok, Professor at Sungshin Women's University] [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has attracted attention by expressing on his Twitter that "Dokdo is Korean territory recognized by the United States." This statement has drawn more focus as it comes amid controversy over the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee marking Dokdo as a tiny dot on the map of the torch relay route, implying it is Japanese territory.

On the 2nd, former Prime Minister Hatoyama posted on his Twitter account, "I heard that a South Korean presidential candidate said that if the Japanese designation of Takeshima (竹島, the name Japan claims for Dokdo) is not changed, South Korea might boycott the Olympics," and questioned, "Are you aware that Takeshima is shown as Korean territory (Dokdo) on U.S. maps?"

He also asked, "Are you conservatives in Japan unable to protest (against the U.S. maps showing Dokdo as Korean territory) because you are pro-American?"

Source=Screenshot of Yukio Hatoyama, former Prime Minister of Japan's Twitter Photo by Yukio Hatoyama

Former Prime Minister Hatoyama led a short-lived nine-month administration in 2009 as a member of the then-opposition Democratic Party. He actively uses Twitter to express his political views. Recently, he criticized Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's visit to the United States and summit meeting with President Joe Biden as "tributary diplomacy."

After retiring from politics, former Prime Minister Hatoyama visited the Seodaemun Prison History Hall in Seoul in 2015, and in 2018, he met atomic bomb victims in Hapcheon, Gyeongnam, where he knelt and apologized, consistently urging Japan to apologize for historical issues.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.