Shin Won-sik: "If Dokdo Becomes a Disputed Area, Japan Will Get Involved"

"Landing of Japan on Dokdo Is Just an Unfounded Concern"

Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, stated that militarily responding to Japan over the Dokdo issue would be “turning the area into a disputed zone, which would rather play into Japan’s hands.”

On the 27th, during the confirmation hearing held by the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, Shin responded this way to a question from Song Ok-ju, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. When asked about concerns that “some fear that the Japanese military might station troops on Dokdo in the future,” he said, “Japan’s claim of sovereignty over Dokdo is an absurd assertion that must be strongly protested,” but drew a line by adding, “The idea that Japan would land on Dokdo is groundless.”

Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, is delivering opening remarks at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 27th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Regarding his remarks made in August 2019 on a YouTube channel, where he said, “Can we be sure that the Korean Empire was happier than the Japanese colonial period just because it existed?” he explained that it was a misunderstanding.

Shin said, “The issue of the Korean Empire came up because I was emphasizing that we must strengthen our country and military power so that we do not suffer again as we did during the Japanese colonial period. Because there was so much talk about my words, it caused misunderstandings, but if I become minister, I will strive to speak only what is necessary and clearly.”

Regarding the “patrol plane conflict,” which has dragged on for four and a half years since late 2018 amid a battle of truths and pride between Korea and Japan, he reaffirmed the Ministry of National Defense’s existing position. Shin said, “It is true that a Japanese patrol plane conducted threatening flights toward our warship,” and added, “Japan claims that we used radar to investigate their aircraft, but that is not true, and Japan does not acknowledge it.”

On the issue of renaming the Navy submarine Hong Beom-do, he said, “I will delegate the decision to the Chief of Naval Operations.”

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