Japan Diplomatic Bluebook Maintains Stance on Dokdo and Comfort Women Issues... Mentions 'South Korea as an Important Neighbor'

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again reiterated its claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory. While the ministry showed some signs of change by reintroducing the expression "Korea is an important neighboring country," it maintained its existing stance on the Dokdo issue and the Korea-Japan comfort women issue.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 18th, through a written report to the Cabinet, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in this year's edition of the Diplomatic Bluebook that "Takeshima (the name Japan claims for Dokdo) is clearly Japan's inherent territory both historically and under international law." Regarding the "Dokdo Guard" deployed by the Korean government on Dokdo, it also expressed the position that "Japan continues to illegally occupy Takeshima without any legal basis under international law." Since 2018, the Japanese government has used the term "illegal occupation" in relation to Dokdo. Previously, while asserting that Dokdo was Japanese territory, it did not use terms such as illegal occupation.

It also argued that using the term "sex slave" in relation to Japanese military comfort women is incorrect. Furthermore, it mentioned that this fact was already confirmed by Korea in the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement. In this regard, although our government pointed out last year that such expressions appeared in the Japanese Diplomatic Bluebook and that they were inaccurate, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not amend them in this year's edition either.

Additionally, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs used the expression "important neighboring country" regarding Korea. This expression appeared in the 2017 Diplomatic Bluebook but was omitted thereafter. However, in 2017, the phrase used was "Korea is the most important neighboring country sharing strategic interests," whereas in this year's Bluebook, expressions such as "sharing strategic interests" have disappeared.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also used the phrase "islands over which our country (Japan) holds sovereignty" concerning the four Kuril Islands, which are subject to a territorial dispute with Russia.

Regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), it described that "it originated in China and is raging worldwide, having a significant impact." Concerning North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens, it reiterated the position that "there can be no normalization of diplomatic relations without resolving the abduction issue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.