hankyoreh

South Korean marines engage in a training exercise on Dokdo on Aug. 25. (Yonhap News)

On Aug. 25, the Japanese government demanded that the South Korean government halt a territorial defense exercise at Dokdo, known as Takeshima in Japan. Japan has once again claimed territorial rights over the island. It’s absurd for Japan to make such claims not once or twice, but every time the issue comes up. As we’ve said before, Dokdo is South Korean sovereign territory, whether considered in terms of history, geography, or international law. Therefore, Japan has no business taking issue with whatever exercises the South Korean military might conduct there.

On Sunday, the South Korean government abruptly announced it was conducting a two-day “territorial defense exercise for the East Sea” through Aug. 26, with all branches of the military and the coast guard participating. Ten F-15 fighters and 10 naval vessels — including, for the first time, an Aegis guided-missile destroyer — took part in the exercise, which trains South Korean forces to defend against an imagined invasion of Dokdo by outside forces. Previously, a “Dokdo defense exercise” had been held two times every year, but this expands upon that exercise, along with changing its name. A contributing factor was likely the punitive trade measures recently taken by Japan and its resulting dispute with Japan.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately responded by calling for a halt of the exercise via diplomatic channels. “Both in light of the historical facts and in terms of international law, Takeshima is obviously Japan’s sovereign territory. This exercise by the South Korean military is completely unacceptable,” the ministry said. But there is nothing to back Japan’s territorial claim to Dokdo. In 1877, the Daijo-kan, Japan’s highest governing body during the Meiji period, issued a decree confirming that the two islands of Ulleungdo and Dokdo didn’t belong to it. It’s widely known that the island was arbitrarily annexed to Japan’s Shimane Prefecture leading up to the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and then reverted to South Korean control following Japan’s surrender in World War II, in 1945. It’s time for Japan to shelve its illegitimate territorial claims.

The South Korean military authorities explain that the territorial defense exercise for the East Sea isn’t necessarily aimed at Japan. Military planes and naval vessels by other countries, including Russia and China, have been entering the East Sea and its airspace more recently as of late, and Russian aircraft even made an incursion into the airspace over Dokdo just a month ago. Given the increasing military instability in the East Sea, the military is obviously responsible for preparing for every eventuality. There’s no reason for Japan to be so testy about a routine exercise.

South Korea’s military needn’t worry about what other countries think about exercises designed to protect its national territory. That said, neither is there any reason to provoke neighboring countries considering that we already exercise effective control over Dokdo. The government needs to firmly counter Japan’s illegitimate territorial claims while not going overboard, which might escalate the disagreement into an international dispute.

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

Caption: South Korean marines engage in a training exercise on Dokdo on Aug. 25. (Yonhap News)