Japanese Right-Wing Media Cites Some US Aviation Sources to Claim Dokdo Is Japanese Territory?

Sankei Shimbun Cites Four Points from 40-50 Years Ago US Aviation Documents to Deny South Korea's Sovereignty over Dokdo

▲Sankei Shimbun capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The right-wing Japanese Sankei Shimbun is causing controversy by claiming that Dokdo is Japanese territory based on U.S. aeronautical maps produced 40 to 50 years ago.

On the 3rd, Sankei reported that the Japan Institute of International Affairs, a public interest foundation investigating and researching territorial issues, discovered four U.S. government-produced aeronautical maps from 1972 and 1982 that marked Dokdo as Japanese territory.

According to the report, a private research company commissioned by this institute examined about 100 maps, including post-Pacific War aeronautical maps, held by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Among these, Sankei stated that four maps indicating Dokdo as Japanese territory were aeronautical maps of the Korean Peninsula produced by the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense.

Two maps produced in 1972 show a dotted line between Ulleungdo and Dokdo, with 'JAPAN' marked on the Dokdo side and 'KOREA' on the Ulleungdo side.

The two maps produced in 1982 have no dotted line between Dokdo and Ulleungdo, but '(JAPAN)' is marked under Dokdo and '(REPUBLIC OF KOREA)' under Ulleungdo.

The Sankei Shimbun's report denies Korea's ownership of Dokdo based on a very small portion of the maps discovered by the Japan Institute of International Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Regarding the annotation on the two 1982 maps stating, "This aeronautical map does not have authority over international boundaries," Sankei interpreted this as reflecting the allied United States' intention not to actively intervene in the Dokdo issue.

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