Democratic Party Foreign Affairs Committee: "If Japan Refuses to Correct Historical Distortion, Strong Response Including Olympic Boycott"

Representatives of the National Sovereignty Solidarity held a press conference on the 27th in front of the Japanese Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, condemning the organizing committee and the Japanese government for marking Dokdo as Japanese territory on the official Tokyo Olympic website map and urging the deletion of the map. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] Members of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea issued a joint statement on the 4th demanding the Japanese government "immediately stop its political acts of historical distortion that undermine the Olympic spirit." They even mentioned a boycott.

They stated, "The Japanese government refused our government's request to remove Dokdo from the official Tokyo Olympics website scheduled to open on July 24," and criticized, "This is a clear infringement on the Republic of Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo and blatant historical distortion."

They added, "Our government has already clearly stated that 'Dokdo is historically, geographically, and under international law, clearly Korean territory.' Numerous old maps and historical documents serve as evidence, and our citizens actually reside there, effectively exercising control."

Article 50 of the Olympic Charter stipulates that "no form of political propaganda is allowed at the Olympics." The lawmakers said, "Based on this, the Japanese government protested the use of the Korean Peninsula flag with Dokdo markings by the North-South unified team at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and we decided to use the Korean Peninsula flag without Dokdo markings following the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendations." They continued, "Now, just three years later, we strongly condemn Japan's shameless attitude of arbitrarily marking Dokdo while completely erasing the past."

They stated, "We cannot tolerate the Japanese government's groundless claim that Dokdo is Japanese territory and urge immediate corrective action. If prompt corrective measures are refused, we solemnly warn that we will respond strongly, including a boycott of the Tokyo Olympics together with our citizens."

Regarding the IOC, they also urged, "We call on the IOC to take fairer, firmer, and more responsible measures to ensure that the noble Olympic values are not damaged."

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