Japanese Foreign Minister Again Claims "Dokdo Is Japanese Territory"...Repeats Remark for 13th Consecutive Year

On the 20th, Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu stated in a foreign policy speech at the extraordinary Diet session that "Takeshima in Shimane Prefecture (Takeshima, the name Japan uses to refer to Dokdo) is, in light of historical facts and under international law, an inherent part of Japan's territory," adding that Japan "will respond in a calm and resolute manner."

This remark is similar to the statement made about one year ago by former Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi.

Motegi Toshimitsu, Japan's foreign minister, is attending the opening ceremony of the 2025 APEC Joint Foreign and Trade Ministers' Meeting at the Sono Calm Gyeongju Grand Ballroom in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province on the morning of October 30, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Since former Prime Minister Kishida Fumio served as foreign minister and declared in a 2014 foreign policy speech that "Takeshima in Shimane Prefecture is an inherent part of Japan's territory," successive Japanese foreign ministers have been repeating the claim in their annual foreign policy speeches that Dokdo is Japanese territory.

However, regarding relations with South Korea, Foreign Minister Motegi said on this day that Japan would "develop relations with this important neighboring country in a future-oriented and stable manner."