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Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung (provided by Gyeonggi Province)

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday to request that it take “active measures” to delete Dokdo in a map on the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games homepage where the islets are presented as Japanese territory.

In the letter addressed to IOC President Thomas Bach, Lee said that as a part of the South Korean government, Gyeonggi Province could not remain silent about the violation of territorial sovereignty and dignity.

Explaining that he was concerned about South Korean public opinion supporting a boycott of the Olympics, he asked the IOC to take immediate action to have Dokdo removed from the map, describing its inclusion as violating the “Olympic spirit.”

He also complained that Japan was responding to the South Korean government’s sensible and reasonable calls for the deletion by insisting that Dokdo was Japanese territory. He described Japan’s actions as political, violent and invasive behavior that conflicts with international law and the spirit of the Olympics.

Lee also drew Bach’s attention to the precedent where the South Korean government accepted an IOC recommendation ahead of the 2018 PyeongChang Games against using a Korean Peninsula flag containing Dokdo on the grounds that it was “political” — adding that it had done so even though Dokdo was inherently South Korean territory.

He cautioned that if the IOC failed to take action against Japan’s political and baseless actions despite the precedent, it could face criticisms that it damaged its own reason for being by supporting politically intended actions by one country in violation of principles of equity and neutrality.

By Lee Jung-ha, Incheon correspondent

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