Japan’s 598-page defense white paper, approved by the Japanese Cabinet on Tuesday and published Aug. 5, contains the claim over what Japan calls Takeshima — the Japanese name for Dokdo — for the 22nd straight year, dating to 2005. Maps included in the report place the islets within Japan’s air defense identification zone.
South Korea exercises effective control over Dokdo and rejects Japan’s claim. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it summoned Japan’s defense attaché in Seoul on Tuesday, where Kim Hak-jo, director general for international policy at the ministry, lodged a formal protest with Takeshi Nagayoshi, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force officer serving as defense attaché at the Japanese Embassy. The ministry said South Korea would respond firmly to any attempt to undermine its sovereignty over Dokdo.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry also condemned Japan’s claim and called for its immediate withdrawal.
Despite the territorial dispute, the white paper described South Korea for the third consecutive year as an important neighboring country and partner with which Japan should cooperate in addressing regional and international challenges.
The document cited recent defense exchanges, including Japan’s support for a stopover by the South Korean Air Force’s Black Eagles aerobatic team. It also referred to bilateral and trilateral search-and-rescue cooperation and the real-time sharing of North Korean missile-warning data among South Korea, Japan and the United States. South Korea and Japan agreed in June to resume bilateral search-and-rescue exercises and expand defense exchanges while continuing trilateral cooperation with the United States.
The language reflects Japan’s assessment that closer cooperation with Seoul and Washington is necessary as North Korea advances its nuclear and missile capabilities and strengthens military ties with Russia, according to the paper.
The white paper identified China’s expanding military activities as Japan’s greatest strategic challenge. Maps in the report showed Chinese aircraft, warships, submarines and drones operating beyond the First Island Chain and farther into the Pacific. Japan also expressed concern about joint Chinese-Russian military exercises and bomber flights near the Japanese archipelago.
The report described North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and growing cooperation with Russia as serious threats to regional security. It emphasized the importance of the three countries’ missile-warning system and other forms of trilateral security cooperation.
Joo Eun-sik, president of the Korea Research Institute for Strategy, said Japan’s repeated sovereignty claim weakens the foundation of trust needed for bilateral security cooperation. “Japan’s insistence on its Dokdo claim for the 22nd consecutive year is clearly a factor that undermines trust in South Korea-Japan security cooperation,” Joo said. He said Seoul should maintain a strong military posture around Dokdo while pursuing a carefully calibrated two-track defense strategy that preserves cooperation with Japan and the United States against threats from North Korea and Russia.
South Korean defense experts have increasingly called for Seoul to separate its response to historical and territorial disputes from practical security cooperation. They say South Korea should reject Japan’s claim without compromise while continuing necessary cooperation on missile warnings, search-and-rescue operations and regional defense issues.