On the 13th, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it will respond firmly and decisively to any unjustified Japanese claims on Dokdo after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently asserted, without basis, that Dokdo is Japanese territory.
A Foreign Ministry official said, “Dokdo is clearly our inherent territory — historically, geographically, and under international law.”
At a House of Representatives budget committee session on the 12th, Prime Minister Takaichi said she would continue efforts to persuade the international community that Dokdo is Japanese territory and disclosed plans to send cabinet ministers to the Takeshima Day event.
Since taking office in October last year, Takaichi has suggested — including during the LDP leadership contest — sending a minister of higher rank than the customary vice-minister-level political secretary to the event.
The event, hosted by Shimane Prefecture, has typically been attended by a vice-minister-level political secretary on behalf of the Japanese government. Sending a higher-ranking minister would represent an overt government-level signal of territorial claims on Dokdo.
By convention, at this year’s Takeshima Day event on the 22nd of last month the government sent only Naoki Furukawa, a Cabinet Office political secretary. At the event, Furukawa reiterated that Dokdo is Japan’s inherent territory, asserting that claim is grounded in historical fact and international law.
Japanese media framed the secretary-level dispatch as a gesture toward improving Korea-Japan relations, while also noting that Prime Minister Takaichi may continue to consider sending higher-ranking ministers to placate domestic conservative constituencies.
