Japan differs over Dokdo, Kuril Islands

People hold placards which read “Dokdo is Korean territory” during an event in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Wednesday, to celebrate Liberation Day. (Photo : Yonhap)

Japan’s reaction to President Lee Myung-bak’s trip to Dokdo last Friday was almost identical to that when former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visted Kuril Islands in 2010, except for one fact.

Back then, Japan didn’t threaten to involve the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This time Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba announced a day after Lee’s trip to the islets it is considering referring the case to the ICJ,.

Analysts say Japan’s “tailored” approach to South Korean and Russian leaders’ visits to what Japan calls disputed territories is a calculated move.

“Japan has no legal ground for gaining South Kuril Islands because it is clear that at San Francisco in 1951 it signed away all right and claim to those two islands,” said former Australian diplomat Gregory Clark. “The only basis for a claim would be that Japan was forced to do that signing, and in that case it would have to blame the United States, which it does not want to do.”

Russia occupied the South Kuril Islands, which are also called northern territories by Japan, during the Soviet-Japanese war at the end of World War II.

The United States, Japan and 46 countries signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan (widely known as the San Francisco Peace Treaty) in September 1951 to end World War II and to allocate compensation to Allied civilians and former prisoners of war. South Korea didn’t participate in the treaty.

The peace treaty mentioned the status of disputed territories, including the Kuril Islands.

Clark, who is now based in Tokyo and doing research on bilateral and multilateral relations among Japan, China, Russia and Australia, said Japan renounced its claims over the South Kuril Islands in the treaty.

“The contrast with Japan’s position over the Kurils where it refuses ICJ involvement is glaring.”

The peace treaty, however, didn’t mention anything about the status of Dokdo, 87.4 kilometers east of Ulleung Island, South Gyeongsang Province.

“With Dokdo, much of the Japanese claim would have to focus also on San Francisco,” Clark said.

As the peace treaty omitted the status of Dokdo, Japan appears to have calculated that there is room to insist on its sovereignty over the territory.

Japan’s flawed claim

Japan’s claimed sovereignty over the islets is based on classified diplomatic cables and classified letters it exchanged with U.S. officials before the treaty was signed.

But its claim is flawed, according to scholars and historians.

Numerous negotiations were held and plenty of letters and diplomatic cables exchanged before the 48 nations signed the peace treaty.

Historians and analysts rejected Japan’s claim, saying there exist other diplomatic cables and letters, which were written during the negotiations for the peace treaty and supported South Korea’s claim.

Dokdo was part of Korea’s territory before it was annexed to Japan in 1910. Given this, scholars said, it will be reasonable to conclude that territories, which were part of Korea before Japan’s annexation of the country, should be returned.

Both Lee and Medvedev are the first leaders from their respective nations to set foot on what Japan calls disputed territories. Later, Medvedev said he would visit the islands on a regular basis.

After Medvedev’s Kuril trip in 2010, Japan recalled its ambassador to Russia, summoned the Russian ambassador to Japan while Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the unprecedented visit to the disputed island “unacceptable.”

Japan mum on ICJ option.

Japan has vented its anger over Lee’s Dokdo trip. It recalled its ambassador Masatoshi Muto and summoned South Korean Ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Lee’s visit to Dokdo was unacceptable.

Last week Foreign Minister Gemba told reporters that his government was mulling taking the Dokdo issue to the ICJ. He further said South Korea has sought a global solution and given this Seoul should respond to Tokyo’s calls to let the international court decide on the matter.

The Japanese foreign ministry also plans to set up a team to strengthen its sovereignty claims on Dokdo, the Senkaku Islands (also called Daioyu in Chinese), and Kuril Islands. <The Korea TImes/Kang Hyun-kyung>

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