Japan's Defense White Paper Claims 'Sovereignty over Dokdo'... Ministry of Foreign Affairs Summons Japanese Ambassador to Korea (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] The Japanese Ministry of Defense has once again reiterated its claim of sovereignty over Dokdo in this year's edition of the annually published "Defense White Paper."

As the tug-of-war between the two countries continues over whether President Moon Jae-in will attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on the 23rd, attention is focused on how the results of this Defense White Paper will affect his visit to Japan. The government protested Japan's claim of sovereignty over Dokdo by summoning the Japanese Ambassador to Korea.

On the 13th, Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo reported the 2021 edition of the Defense White Paper to the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide.

This White Paper, which covers Japan's security environment from April last year to May this year, states, "The issue of the Northern Territories and Takeshima (the name Japan uses for Dokdo) territories, which are Japan's inherent territories, remains unresolved."

Additionally, in maps showing ▲ locations of major Self-Defense Forces units ▲ Russian military activity trends ▲ surveillance of maritime and airspace boundaries around Japan ▲ air defense identification zones of neighboring countries, Dokdo was removed and replaced with Takeshima.

Japan has claimed sovereignty over Dokdo through the Defense White Paper every year for 17 years since the Koizumi Junichiro Cabinet in 2005.

Earlier, Japan marked Dokdo as Japanese territory on a map depicting the Tokyo Olympics torch relay route and has not retracted this. Despite the boycott sentiment rising in Korea against the Tokyo Olympics, the Defense White Paper including the claim over Dokdo was decided at the Cabinet meeting just 10 days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.

Accordingly, voices opposing President Moon's visit to Japan are expected to grow stronger within Korea. Moreover, as President Moon is raising "Japan's attitude" as a precondition for his visit to Japan during the Tokyo Olympics, it cannot be ruled out that this will also affect whether he visits Japan.

Meanwhile, the Defense White Paper states regarding Korea-Japan defense cooperation that "negative responses from the Korean defense authorities continue," and "we will strongly demand appropriate responses from the Korean side to ensure that Korea-US and Korea-US-Japan cooperation is not damaged." This reflects the perception that problems could arise in Korea-US-Japan cooperation due to Korea's negative responses.

The reasons cited for adding the phrase "negative responses from the Korean side" in this year's White Paper include confrontations between Korean Navy destroyers and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft, military exercises around Dokdo, and controversies over the termination notice of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

In response to Japan's provocations, the government immediately lodged a protest. On the same day around 11 a.m., Lee Sang-ryeol, Director-General of the Asia-Pacific Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoned Soma Hirohisa, Minister-Counselor of the Japanese Embassy in Korea, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Doryeom-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

At this meeting, Director-General Lee is expected to protest Japan's repeated unjust claims of sovereignty over Dokdo and demand an immediate retraction.

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