'16 Years of Dokdo Provocations in the Japanese Defense White Paper'... Conflicts Highlighted in the 'Security and Defense Cooperation' Sector

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Summons Charg? d'Affaires of Japan in Korea for Strong Protest

Dokdo/Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Japanese government continued its confrontational stance by insisting for the 16th consecutive year in its Defense White Paper that Dokdo is Japanese territory, deleting references to broad defense cooperation with South Korea, and citing examples of conflicts between the two countries.

On the 14th, the Japanese government adopted the 2020 Defense White Paper "Japan's Defense" at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. This Defense White Paper described the security environment around Japan and, as in the previous year, stated that "the territorial issues of the Northern Territories and Takeshima (the Japanese name for Dokdo), which are Japan's inherent territories, remain unresolved." This repeats the same content for the 16th year in a row.

In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Charg? d'Affaires of the Embassy of Japan in Korea around 11 a.m. that day to strongly protest. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kim Jeong-han, Director of the Asia-Pacific Bureau, summoned Soma Hirohisa, Charg? d'Affaires of the Embassy of Japan in Korea. Director Kim is believed to have strongly protested Japan's territorial claims over Dokdo contained in the Defense White Paper and demanded an immediate withdrawal of those claims.

Furthermore, the Defense White Paper prepared by Japan's Ministry of Defense relatively downgraded defense cooperation with South Korea. It reflected the strained Japan-South Korea relations directly in the Defense White Paper. After elaborately explaining the cooperative relationship between the United States and Japan, the White Paper listed South Korea fourth in the order of security and defense cooperation with other countries, following Australia, India, and ASEAN. Until 2018, the Ministry of Defense described security and defense cooperation in the order of Australia, South Korea, and India, but last year it demoted South Korea to a lower position and maintained the same order this year.

The description of Japan-South Korea security and defense cooperation was also sparse. Previously, the Defense White Paper stated, "We will promote defense cooperation with South Korea in a broad range of fields while striving to establish a foundation of solidarity," but this time it only mentioned that the two countries face issues such as North Korea's nuclear and missile problems.

It also referred to the October 2018 issue of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ship flying the Rising Sun flag and the December incident in the East Sea involving a South Korean Navy destroyer and a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol aircraft. Additionally, it mentioned the Korea-Japan General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which has been suspended since November last year.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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