"Dokdo Is Our Inherent Territory" Government Urges Japan to "Withdraw Immediately"

Japan Again Falsely Claims 'Dokdo Sovereignty' in Defense White Paper
Foreign Ministry Strongly Protests... Japanese Embassy Summoned

The government immediately demanded a retraction after Japan described Dokdo as its "inherent territory" in its recently published Defense White Paper. The term "inherent territory" refers to land that has never been foreign territory, and Japan has been persistently making unfounded claims over Dokdo's sovereignty for 20 years.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a spokesperson's statement saying, "We strongly protest the repeated unjust claims of sovereignty over Dokdo, which is historically, geographically, and under international law clearly our inherent territory," and called for an immediate retraction of these claims. It further warned, "Japan must clearly recognize that repeating unjust claims over Dokdo does not help in building a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship."

The Japanese Defense White Paper Repeats the Baseless Claim That 'Dokdo Is Japanese Territory.' On the 12th, the Japanese government adopted the 2024 Defense White Paper at the Cabinet meeting. This year's Defense White Paper includes the baseless claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory for the 20th consecutive year. In the map shown in the photo, the waters surrounding "Takeshima" (竹島, the name Japan uses for Dokdo) are marked with a blue solid line indicating Japanese territorial waters.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day in the afternoon, Kim Sang-hoon, Director of the Asia-Pacific Bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, plans to summon officials from the Embassy of Japan in Korea to lodge a protest.

The Japanese government adopted the 2024 Defense White Paper at a cabinet meeting. The white paper included the phrase, "The issue of the Northern Territories (the Japanese term for the four Kuril Islands) and Takeshima (the Japanese name for Dokdo) as inherent territories of our country (Japan) remains unresolved." This wording is the same as last year’s, and the unfounded claims contained in the Defense White Paper have continued for 20 years since 2005.

While continuing to address the Dokdo issue in the Defense White Paper, the Japanese government positively evaluated the recent efforts to improve Korea-Japan relations since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. It newly defined Korea as a "cooperative partner" and an "important neighboring country," and included a policy to strengthen trilateral cooperation among Korea, the United States, and Japan.