KT: "Japan Renews Claim to Dokdo in Defense White Paper"

A September 1 article in The Korea Times (KT) entitled "Japan Renews Claim to Dokdo in Defense White Paper" claims that Japan has described "Dokdo" as its own territory in a Japanese Ministry of Defense white paper.

Without giving a direct quote, KT article claims that the white paper said that territorial issues remain unresolved in regard to the Japanese territories of the Kuril Islands and Takeshima (Dokdo) . However, the article is somewhat confusing since it quotes a Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying, "it's not appropriate to mention our countermeasures at a time when we don't know yet exactly what contents will be included in Japan's defense white paper."

So does Korean know what the white paper said or not? It appears that the Korea Times is just assuming Japan will "renew" her claims on "Dokdo" in the white paper rather than reporting on actual facts.

Of course, there is no reason to believe that the white paper will not mention Takeshima since Japan considers the islets to be Japanese, but why does Korea always have to make a big deal about this?

Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson suggested there might be "countermeasures" taken depending on how the statement is worded. What countermeasures? Does that mean Korea might be recalling her ambassador from Tokyo and publicly berating the Japanese ambassador to Korea, again?

Well, I guess taking countermeasures on Japanese statements on Dokdo is a good sign, in a way, since it suggests that there are not many more serious issues for Korea's Foreign Ministry to deal with, such as North Korean nukes.