hankyoreh

The greatest responsibility for the fact that Dokdo - land that is undeniably Korean - continues to be any sort of controversy lies with our own government. It has failed to keep Japan from its provocations and has been weak in its effort to expose the falsehood of Japan’s claims internationally. Even so, you have to wonder what the United States is truly up to lately since there is just no way it is unaware of the true nature of the Dokdo issue.

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names, a federal body, suddenly decided to change Dokdo’s designation from Korean territory to “undesignated sovereignty.” The Korean embassy in Washington D.C. says the board said that it was “simply in the process of updating its database to conform with government policy.” That would mean that the view of the U.S. federal government on Dokdo is that it is indeed a territory with “undesignated sovereignty.” The body has referred to the islets by the “neutral” name of Liancourt Rocks since 1977. It was a big blunder for our government to have neglected that fact for decades. However, a neutral name and territorial designation are completely different issues, and this move on the part of the body cannot simply be a part of reorganizing its database.

There appears to be some connection to recent comments by the U.S. State Department. Speaking of Japan’s planned treatment of Dokdo in middle school teacher instruction manuals, its spokesman said, “they have a history of some differences on some issues ... this goes back a ways. And I think every three years or so, it’s an issue that comes up specifically on this territorial dispute.” The United States needs to explain in detail what decisions were made within the U.S. government about the territorial status of Dokdo that things like this have come to pass without any consultation with Korea, a U.S. ally. And of course the move will have to be set straight if the decision was an inappropriate one.

Koreans remember how the United States has had a vague attitude about Dokdo in the past. After losing World War II, Japan regained its sovereignty in the 1952 Treaty of San Francisco. Initially Dokdo was included among all the islands Japan was to surrender its rights over, but in the end the United States did not include mention of the islets in the treaty. That is what gives Japan the wiggle room to make provocations over territorial rights to them. Koreans wonder whether this move by the United States is an extension of that attitude from the past.

Japan’s provocations over Dokdo are in the same vein as its attempts to rationalize its history of imperialist aggression. We would hope that the United States would not create unnecessary factors for discord between our two countries with designations and comments about Dokdo that sympathize with such intentions on the part of Japan.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]