Japan spends 2.7 billion on Dokdo promotion, but South Korea cuts budget?

Democratic Party Criticizes Budget Cuts for Dokdo
"Yoon Allows Contaminated Water, Fueling Japan's Dokdo Ambition"

The Democratic Party criticized the government for cutting the budget for responding to Japan's historical distortion and for protecting Dokdo sovereignty, calling it "giving away Dokdo."

On the 11th, Kwon Chil-seung, the senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said in a briefing, "Japan has stepped up its promotional activities asserting that Dokdo is 'Takeshima,'" and criticized, "As the Yoon Seok-yeol administration allowed the discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water, it is now coveting sovereignty over Dokdo as well."

On the 10th, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japanese government is strengthening information provision activities in areas disputed with other countries, such as Dokdo and the Senkaku Islands (Chinese name Diaoyu Islands). This is aimed at reinforcing Japan's territorial claims, and it is known that the Japanese government has allocated about 300 million yen (approximately 2.7 billion KRW) in the next year's budget for this purpose.

Citizens are looking at a bird's-eye view map of Dokdo at the Northeast Asian History Foundation Dokdo Experience Center located in Times Square, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

On the other hand, it is known that our government has significantly cut the budget for responding to Japan's historical distortion and for protecting Dokdo sovereignty.

According to the '2024 Northeast Asian History Foundation Support Project Budget Status' disclosed by Ahn Min-seok, a Democratic Party member of the National Assembly's Education Committee, the Northeast Asian History Foundation's budget for research projects responding to Japan's historical distortion was cut by about 1.5 billion KRW, from 2.028 billion KRW this year to 536 million KRW next year. The budget for protecting Dokdo sovereignty decreased from 517 million KRW this year to 388 million KRW next year.

Regarding this, Senior Spokesperson Kwon pointed out, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which should be doing more to strongly block Japan's provocations over Dokdo, instead cut the Dokdo sovereignty protection budget by 25% and the budget for research responding to Japan's historical distortion by 73.6%," and said, "Who exactly is President Yoon doing this for? If it is not to turn a blind eye to Japan's territorial claims over Dokdo, there is no explanation."

He continued, "If it is not to turn a blind eye to Japan's territorial claims over Dokdo, there is no explanation," and criticized, "After giving away everything from forced labor issues to Fukushima contaminated water discharge over a glass of sake, is the government now going to give away Dokdo as well and voluntarily become a tree that generously gives to Japan?"

Furthermore, Senior Spokesperson Kwon urged, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration should no longer disguise its treasonous diplomacy as a 'future-oriented relationship,'" and demanded, "Answer clearly whether you truly have the will to protect our sovereignty, territory, and people."