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August 10. (Blue House photo pool)

By Park Byong-su and Ahn Chang-hyun, staff reporters

President Lee Myung-bak paid a surprise visit to Dokdo on August 10. The chilling effect on relations with Tokyo was immediately apparent as the Japanese government responded with vehement protests.

Lee left Seoul on his presidential helicopter at around 10 am, visiting Ulleungdo and Dokdo before returning to the Blue House at around 6 pm. Minister of Environment Yoo Young-sook, Minister of Culture Choe Kwang-sik, and writers Yi Mun-yol and Kim Joo-young accompanied him.

This was Lee’s first-ever visit to Dokdo. He is the highest-ranking official to travel there since then-Prime Minister Han Seung-soo in July 2008.

Japan responded immediately by recalling Masatoshi Muto, its ambassador to Seoul. Foreign minister Koichiro Gemba said no decision had been made on when he would be returning.

Tokyo had urged Seoul through diplomatic channels not to go through with the visit after learning about it on the evening on August 9. After Lee went to the islets Friday, the Japanese government summoned South Korean ambassador to Japan Shin Kak-soo to its Foreign Ministry to protest. Defense minister Satoshi Morimoto and other Cabinet officials said they would pursue a vigorous inter-agency response.

Some Cabinet officials, including Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Yuichiro Hata and National Public Safety Commission chairman Jin Matsubara, said they would be paying their respects as private citizens at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, the anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. They would be first sitting Cabinet members to do so since the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) took office. The DPJ administration has previously disallowed visits to the shrine by its ministers in order to avoid frictions with Japan’s neighbors. But frictions with Seoul appear inevitable for the time being.

Lee’s Dokdo visit appears to be a response to Japan’s recent claims in the 2012 edition of the Defense White Paper that the islets are Japanese territory. Analysts also read it as an expression of his intent not to remain on the sidelines of continued conflicts over historical matters, including the ongoing comfort woman issue and misrepresentations of history in school textbooks.

A key Blue House official said Lee had previously considered visits in each year of his administration, but was unable to do so because of weather conditions and other matters.

“Dokdo is definitely South Korean territory,” the official asserted.

But critics called the visit ill-advised in strategic terms, saying Seoul narrowed its range of options by playing its trump card too early. “Now that we’ve played the ‘presidential Dokdo visit’ card, the question is how else we’re going to respond if Japan ratchets up its provocations,” said Jin Chang-soo, director of the Sejong Institute’s Japan Center. “What are we going to do if Japanese right-wingers hold demonstrations on the water or refer the matter to the International Court of Justice?”

Jin also expressed concern that Seoul could easily find itself snared in Japan’s attempts to make an international dispute over the issue of the islets’ ownership.

Some observers also said the visit should be viewed through the lens of national politics. The argument is that Lee, who has been in the political doghouse lately over a string of corruption cases involving associates - not least among them his recently arrested older brother, former lawmaker Lee Sang-deuk - is trying to stir up nationalist sentiments ahead of the upcoming Aug. 15 Liberation Day holiday in an effort to turn things around.

“I couldn’t tell you if he really thought through the repercussions this visit may have on relations with Japan,” said Democratic United Party spokesman Kim Hyun in a briefing Friday, “but if his goal was to turn things around, he’s going to be facing some serious problems.”

Meanwhile, a Japanese government official told the country’s press that the “current mess in South Korea,” including the arrests of Lee’s older brother and associates, appeared to be a factor in his decision.

The New Frontier Party issued a statement calling the visit “very significant as a show of the President’s determination to guard national territory at a time when Japan continues publishing defense white papers describing Dokdo as its own territory and does not stop misrepresenting the facts in its textbooks.”

But the opposition warned about the visit’s potential to be used for domestic political ends.

Unified Progressive Party deputy spokesperson Lee Ji-an issued a statement saying, “I cannot rid myself of the impression that [Lee’s] visit to Dokdo at the end of his term, after never once responding properly during Japan‘s offensive on Dokdo, is nothing more than a political show.”

The Blue House said the surprise visit was a personal decision by the President. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade reportedly received word about the plans from the Blue House the day before.

Meeting with reporters Friday, a senior Blue House official explained that Lee had planned to visit Ulleungdo and Dokdo since early on in his term, and had drawn up specific plans.

“On some occasions, he was all set to visit Dokdo only to hear people say it ‘wasn’t the right time yet,’” the official said. “It kept getting postponed over and over due to circumstances, and finally he decided that he needed to go now.”

The official added that the decision to go was made the afternoon before, on direct orders from Lee himself.

“Who’s going to stop the President from visiting?” the official asked rhetorically.

The MOFAT, which handles practical matters in relations with Tokyo, was left out of the loop completely, sources reported.

When asked by reporters for the ministry’s position on the visit, an official there said, “It’s a domestic event decided on by the Blue House. We have nothing to say about it.”

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