Japan Defense White Paper's Unjust Claim "Dokdo is Japanese Territory" for 20 Years

Reflecting Improvement in Korea-Japan Relations, Referred to as 'Partner'

The Japanese government once again repeated its groundless claim in this year's 'Defense White Paper' that Dokdo is its inherent territory.

On the 12th, Japan's Ministry of Defense published the 2024 Defense White Paper and reported it to the Cabinet (State Council).

Dokdo [Photo by Yonhap News]

Regarding Dokdo, the description remained the same as last year. Since 2005, Japan has continued its unfounded claims related to Dokdo for 20 years in the Defense White Paper.

Explaining the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, it stated, "The Northern Territories (the Japanese term for the four Kuril Islands) and Takeshima (竹島, the name Japan claims for Dokdo) territorial issues, which are inherent Japanese territories, still remain unresolved." Also, this year, on a map titled 'Security Environment Surrounding Our Country,' the location of Dokdo was marked as the 'Takeshima territorial issue.' The Defense White Paper map designates Dokdo as Japanese territorial waters, and on the map showing the locations of major Self-Defense Forces units, Dokdo was labeled as Takeshima.

However, reflecting the recent improvement in Korea-Japan relations, South Korea was newly referred to as a 'partner.' In the section 'Promotion of Defense Cooperation and Exchanges with Various Countries,' the Japanese government described South Korea as "an important neighboring country with which we must cooperate as partners in addressing various challenges in the international community." The portion related to South Korea also increased to 3.5 pages this year, up from 2 pages last year.

Following the 21st Asia Security Conference (Shangri-La Dialogue) held last month in Singapore, a Korea-Japan defense ministers' meeting was held, and the two countries' authorities agreed on a joint statement to prevent recurrence of issues related to the patrol aircraft-radar conflict.

The policy to strengthen trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan was also reaffirmed. Under the title 'Cooperation with Like-minded Countries,' a photo of the trilateral summit held last August at Camp David in the United States was posted.

Regarding the international situation, it diagnosed that the world has entered a 'new era of crisis.' It stated that incidents like Russia's invasion of Ukraine could occur in the future in the Indo-Pacific region, especially East Asia. Concerning North Korea's nuclear and missile development, it assessed, as it did last year, that it poses "a more serious and urgent threat to our country (Japan)'s security than ever before."

Paying attention to the fact that North Korea included 'advancement and sophistication of nuclear weapons' in its constitution in September last year, a separate column summarizing the 'Trends in North Korea's Nuclear and Missile Development after 2023' was also included.

Regarding China, it was defined as "a serious concern for Japan and the international community and the greatest strategic challenge ever," and, as in the previous year, it was evaluated that cooperation with allies and like-minded countries is necessary.

Regarding Russia, it was diagnosed that Russia is strengthening its military activities with the goal of becoming a 'strong nation.'