Ahead of Kishida's Visit to Korea, Korea-Japan Dokdo Dispute... Will It Become a Summit Issue?

Jeon Yong-gi "Must Address Clearly at the Summit"
Ha Tae-kyung "Dokdo Visit Only Benefits Japanese Far-Right"

Amid the upcoming visit of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida to South Korea, the long-standing Dokdo dispute between the two countries has resurfaced. Japan protested against the visit to Dokdo by Jeon Yong-gi, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Jeon raised his voice that the Dokdo issue should be discussed at the upcoming Korea-Japan summit, but his visit to Dokdo has also been criticized for playing into the hands of Japanese right-wing extremists.

On the 4th, on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus,' Jeon said, "At the summit, our President Yoon Suk-yeol must clearly address this. I hope this issue is not touched upon," adding, "Why does Japan protest when a South Korean lawmaker visits Dokdo and demand prevention of recurrence, repeatedly violating our sovereignty? I hope President Yoon would firmly put an end to this."

Regarding the Fukushima contaminated water discharge issue, he said, "We need to say that the discharge of contaminated water is unacceptable. Many organizations worldwide say that the country most affected by the discharge would be South Korea, which is right next door," adding, "How can South Korea accept contaminated water being discharged from a neighboring country?"

Criticism has also come from within the ruling party regarding Japan's protest against Jeon's visit to Dokdo. Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu, pointed out on his social media, "At a time when Korea-Japan relations are moving toward comprehensive cooperation, Japan's behavior is hard to understand," and asked, "What attitude did the Japanese political circles show when Putin visited the Northern Territories?" He criticized, "This kind of diplomatic attitude, bowing to big countries while looking down on us as a colonized and occupied country, reveals Japan's flawed mentality."

However, there are also voices criticizing Jeon's Dokdo performance. Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "What the Japanese right-wing wants is to make Dokdo an issue," and pointed out, "He did what the Japanese right-wing likes."

He mentioned the case of former President Lee Myung-bak, who also visited Dokdo in the past, saying, "There is no reason why I or anyone else cannot go to Dokdo. Nevertheless, we do not go," adding, "I cannot help but mention former President Lee, because when he visited Dokdo, it emphasized the conflict between Korea and Japan over Dokdo." After Lee's visit to Dokdo, Korea-Japan relations deteriorated to their worst state since the normalization of diplomatic relations.

There are also opinions that it will be difficult to immediately correct Japan's 'inappropriate remarks' during the summit with Prime Minister Kishida. Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the People Power Party, said on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' "(The summit) is a process," adding, "I expect it to be at the level of reaffirming the statements made during the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Korea-Japan Partnership Declaration."

He said, "The Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Korea-Japan Partnership Declaration was the best point in Korea-Japan relations historically," and added, "If we set that as the goal and reaffirm those statements, we can correct various inappropriate remarks accordingly."