Park Seongman, Gyeongbuk Provincial Council Chair: "We Will Not Stand By Japan's Dokdo Provocation... Statement Condemning 'Defense White Paper'"

The Gyeongbuk Provincial Council (Chairman Park Seongman) strongly condemned and urged the immediate withdrawal of Japan's claim that "Dokdo is Japan's inherent territory" for the 20th consecutive year in the "2024 Defense White Paper" adopted at the Cabinet meeting on the 12th.

Japan's Defense White Paper, published since 1970, first mentioned Dokdo in 1978. Since 1997, it has described Dokdo as a disputed territory, and since 2005, it has repeatedly made the baseless claim that Dokdo is Japan's inherent territory.

Park Seongman, Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council

In this year's Defense White Paper, Japan, as in previous years, referred to Dokdo as Takeshima, stating that "the territorial issue remains unresolved," and marked Dokdo within Japanese territorial waters on the map included in the white paper.

Park Seongman, Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council, emphasized in a statement of condemnation that "Dokdo is clearly the inherent territory of the Republic of Korea from historical, geographical, and international law perspectives," and made it clear that "we will never overlook any provocation by Japan regarding territorial sovereignty and will respond firmly and sternly together with 2.6 million provincial residents."