Old US documents disprove Japan’s claims over Dokdo

Old US documents disprove Japan’s claims over Dokdo

The cover of a document titled “Asiatic Pilot: East Coast of Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Korea” released under the authority of the United States Hydrographic Office in 1909. / Korea Times file By Chung Min-uck Navigation documents drawn up by the United States government over 100 years ago show that Washington did not recognize the islets of Dokdo as Japanese territory, disproving the latter’s latest claims over them. A document titled “Asiatic Pilot: East Coast of Siberia, Sakhalin Island and Korea,” released under the authority of the U.S. Hydrographic Office in 1909, refers to Dokdo as “Hornet Islands (Liancourt Rocks).” It also describes them “as two barren rocky islets, covered with guano, which makes them appear white.” In the description it never mentions territorial sovereignty of Dokdo, whereas, in the case of Tsushima Island, the closest Japanese territory to Korea, the document clearly states it “belongs to the Japanese.” Another Hydrographic Office document released in 1910 titled “Asiatic Pilot, The Japan Islands,” committed to provide information on Japanese islands, does not mention Dokdo or the Hornet Islands (Liancourt Rocks) at all. The U.S. navigation documents were published after Imperial Japan annexed the Korean Peninsula in 1905. According to historians here, the U.S. recognized Japan’s sphere of influence in Korea following the 1905 Taft-Katsura Agreement made between Washington and Tokyo behind closed doors. Following the revelation, observers here claim Seoul should urge Washington to change its neutral stance on the issue and openly show support for Korea’s ownership of Dokdo, as the documents prove Japan is making false claims that it took over sovereignty since 1905. Japan insists the islets came under its control after being incorporated into Japan’s Shimane Prefecture at that time. Washington has long refrained from interfering in any disputes between its two key allies in East Asia. During last week’s APEC meeting in Vladivostok, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the two allies to “lower the temperature” and to “work together in a concerted way to have a calm and restrained approach.” Meanwhile, Dokdo, which lies closer to Korea in the body of water dividing the Korean Peninsula and Japan, has been a thorn in Seoul-Tokyo relations due to Japan’s continued challenge to the Korea’s territorial sovereignty. Seoul keeps a small police detachment on the islets effectively controlling them. Tension surrounding the islets heightened after President Lee Myung-bak’s unprecedented visit to the islets on Aug. 10, to which Japan responded with a plan to take the issue unilaterally to the International Court of Justice for a resolution. Tokyo on Tuesday placed ads in Japanese newspapers renewing its territorial claims, which further raised the tension between the two neighbors.