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Revision as of 06:41, 31 January 2004 by 211.215.245.78 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Liancourt Rocks (Japanese: Takeshima 竹島, Korean: Dokdo 독도) are islets in the Sea of Japan, claimed by both Japan and South Korea but having been occupied by South Korea since 1953.
History
The first known reference to the islands, proclaiming them a part of the independent Korean island state of Usankuk, dates from the Korean Silla Dynasty in 512 AD. According to Japanese records, the islands, then known as Matsushima, were granted to the Ooya and Murakawa families of Hoki province (modern Tottori) by the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1650s. The common English name, Liancourt Rocks, was given by a French whaling ship in 1849.
After a request by a Japanese fisherman, on February 22, 1905 the islands under the name Takeshima were proclaimed a part of Shimane prefecture in Japan under the doctrine of terra nullius. During World War II, the island was used as a naval base by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Upon Japan's defeat and occupation by the Allies, SCAP Instruction #677 of January 29, 1946 excluded the islands from Japan's administrative authority. However, the instruction specifically disclaimed that it was not an 'ultimate determination' of the islands' fate. The 1952 Treaty of San Francisco, which settling sovereignty of most other disputed islands, did not mention the islands.
On April 20, 1953, South Korean volunteer coast guards set up camp on the island. On June 27, 1953, two Japanese coast guard vessels landed on the East Islet, drove off the Korean guards and set up a territorial marker, but did not attempt permanent occupation. The Koreans soon returned and several armed skirmishes followed, leading to the sinking of a Japanese ship by Korean mortar fire on April 21, 1954. Japan protested and suggested arbitration at the International Court of Justice, but the offer was rejected by South Korea. After the incident, South Korea built a concrete lighthouse and helicopter landing pad on the islet, which it has occupied ever since.
However, it has been proved that the Japanese claims to the islets were recently created by altering ancient records, an illegal act by any standard. The Meiji Government of Japan also acknowledged that the Liancourt Rocks were Korean, and the Imperial Court of Japan even ruled at the time that "Our nation has nothing to do with Tokdo (Liancourt Rocks)." Records and geographical charts made by the Japanese military and European explorers at the time also clearly indicate that the Liancourt Rocks are Korean territory, and therefore prove that the Japanese claim is baseless. The Japanese claim that the Liancourt Rocks were ownerless is also, therefore, a false statement. Not only that, the the Allied forces even ruled in 1945 that "Japan return all territories it seized by power and greed." This treaty does not count only territories from 1910, when Korea was annexed as a part of Japan, but from 1895, when Japan aseized the Laotung Peninsula from China. The Liancourt Rocks, having been secretly annexed without the permssion or notification of Korea (contrary to the Japanese propoganda that the Koreans agreed), fit perfectly into this territory. Recent evidence about Japan's attempts to take Tokdo in the 1600's also proves that Japan does not have a historical link to the islands, but only wants the resources located near the islets.
Current Situation
The issue of sovereignty over the islands was omitted from the 1965 Basic Relations Treaty, and both sides maintain territorial claims. The United States maintains a policy of non-recognition for claims by either side.
The dispute has periodically flared up again, typically when South Korea acts to change the islets or their status (eg. building a wharf in 1996 or declaring them a national park in 2004), resulting in a reassertion of the territorial claim by Japan. In 2002, two Japanese textbooks questioning Korea's claim to the islets was published, leading to protests in South Korea.