Korea-Japan Relations Cool Down Again Over Dokdo Issue

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Korea-Japan relations are cooling down again over the Dokdo issue. Recently, the Korea-US-Japan Deputy Ministers' Meeting held in the United States failed to hold a joint press conference due to Japan's refusal.

At that time, Japan notified that it would not hold a joint press conference citing the visit of the Korean National Police Agency Commissioner to Dokdo as the reason, and since then, the two governments have been engaged in a blame game.

In this regard, the government dismissed Japan's repeated claims of sovereignty over Dokdo as an effort to highlight it as a disputed area, saying it is not even worth commenting on.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently told reporters, “We no longer find it worthwhile to comment on Japan's absurd attempts to create a dispute,” and added, “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory historically, geographically, and under international law, and we will firmly respond to any unjust territorial claims.”

Japan has been increasingly making baseless claims of sovereignty over Dokdo since the visit of Commissioner Kim Chang-ryong of the National Police Agency on the 16th. It is known that a team will be operated to review countermeasures related to Commissioner Kim's visit to Dokdo.

According to the Asahi Shimbun, the Liberal Democratic Party's policy-making bodies, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs Research Council, decided at a joint meeting on the 24th to establish a team to review measures (countermeasures) to be taken in response to Commissioner Kim's visit to Dokdo.