"Old Japanese Document Shows Dokdo Is Korean Territory"

A January 3 Korea Times article entitled, "Old Japanese Documents Shows Dokdo is Korean Territory," says the state-owned Korea Maritime Institute has discovered a Japanese document entitled "Prime Ministerial Ordinance No. 24," dated June 6, 1951, which "effectively excluded Dokdo from Japanese territory."

I do not know anything about the above Japanese document, but when "effectively" appears in a Korean Dokdo claim, that usually means the claim is exaggerated or untrue. The Korean article does not quote the Japanese document, which is another clue that the claim is exaggerated.

Besides, does it make sense that Japan would exclude Takeshima (Dokdo) from Japanese territory while insisting that the Peace Treaty recognize Japan's claim to Takeshima?

UPDATE

According to a January 8 article in Korea's Chosun Ilbo entitled "Japan Denies Excluding Dokdo in Newly Found Papers," Tokyo claimed that a piece of "1951 legislation only excluded Dokdo from areas under Japanese administration" at the time.

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Akamatsu Takeshi said the following:

The two 1951 documents were revision of the relevant legislation of 1949 according to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Instruction Notes (SCAPIN) No. 677 of the allied forces. The sphere of administrative authority and territorial space do not always match.

SCAPIN No. 677 excluded Takeshima (Dokdo) from Japan's governmental and administrative control in January 1946, but the instruction from the Supreme Commander was not meant to be a permanment exclusion, as the instruction, itself, said:

6. Nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Postdam Declaration.

SCAPIN No. 677 only separated Takeshima (Dokdo) from Japanese "government and administrative control" until the status of Takeshima could be determined. Later, it was determined that Takeshima was, indeed, Japanese territory, as US Secretary of State Dean Rusk made clear in this 1951 letter to the Korean ambassador:

As regards the island of Dokdo, otherwise known as Takeshima or Liancourt Rocks, this normally uninhabited rock formation was according to our information never treated as part of Korea and, since about 1905, has been under the jurisdiction of the Oki Islands Branch Office of Shimane Prefecture of Japan. The island does not appear ever before to have been claimed by Korea.

Accordingly, Takeshima was not included in the territory that Japan was to give up claim to in the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco. Therefore, between 1946 and March 1952, which was when the treaty when into effect, Japan did not have "governmental and administrative" control over Takeshima, which means it would have naturally been excluded from any Japanese legislation made during that period.

However, according to the Chosun Ilbo article, Korean experts claim the Japanese are "splitting hairs":

Korean experts have dismissed the distinction as splitting hairs. Shin Yong-ha, professor at the Ewha Academy for Advanced Studies of Ewha Womans University, said, "The reason why General Headquarters separated the Dokdo Islets from Japanese territory and specified it in SCAPIN No. 677 is because it judged after several months of investigation that the islets were part of Ulleung Island." SCAPIN No.677 used the term "the definition of Japan," not "the definition of Japanese administration," because it referred to the territory, Shin said. The two 1951 documents show that the Japanese government followed SCAPIN No. 677.

SCAPIN No. 677 did not say that the Dokdo "islets were part of Ulleung Island." In fact, it did not even mention the name "Dokdo." Moreover, the definition of Japan was given only for the purpose of the directive, as the directive, itself, said: "For the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include...." You can read the full directive below:

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS
SUPREME COMMANDER FOR THE ALLIED POWERS

29 January 1946

AG 091(29 Jan. 46) GS
(SCAPIN - 677)

MEMORANDUM FOR : IMPERIAL JAPANESE GOVERNMENT

THROUGH : Central Liaison office, Tokyo

SUBJECT : Governmental and Administrative Separation of Certain Outlying Areas from Japan.

Page 1

1. The Imperial Japanese Government is directed to cease exercising, or attempting to exercise, governmental or administrative authority over any area outside of Japan, or over any government officials and employees or any other persons within such areas.

2. Except as authorized by this Headquarters, the Imperial Japanese Government will not communicate with government officials and employees or with any other persons outside of Japan for any purpose other than the routine operation of authorized shipping, communications and weather services.

3. For the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shinkoku) and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands, including the Tsushima Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands north of 30°North Latitude (excluding Kuchinoshima Island), and excluding (a) Utsuryo (Ullung) Island, Liancourt Rocks (Take Island) and Quelpart (Saishu or Cheju Island, (b) the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands south of 30°North Latitude (including Kuchinoshima Island), the Izu, Nanpo, Bonin (Ogasawara) and Volcano(Kazan or Iwo) Island Groups, and all the outlying Pacific Islands (including the Daito (Ohigashi or Oagari) Island Group, and Parece Vela (Okinotori), Marcus (Minami-tori) and Ganges Habomai (Hapomaze Island Group (including Suisho, Yuri, Akiyuri, Shibotsu and Taraku Islands) and Shikotan Island.

Page 2

4. Further areas specifically excluded from the governmental and administrative jurisdiction of the Imperial Japanese Government are the following : (a) all Pacific Islands seized or occupied under mandate or otherwise by Japan since the beginning of the World War in 1914, (b) Manchura, Formosa and the Pescadores, (c) Korea, and (d) Karafuto.

5. The definition of Japan contained in this directive shall also apply to all future directives, memoranda and orders from this Headquarters unless otherwise specified therein.

6. Nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Postdam Declaration.

7. The Imperial Japanese Government will prepare and submit to this Headquarters a report of all governmental agencies in Japan the functions of which pertain to areas outside a statement as defined in this directive. Such report will include a statement of the functions, organization and personnel of each of the agencies concerned.

8. All records of the agencies referred to in paragraph 7above will be preserved and kept available for inspection by this Headquarters.

FOR THE SUPREME COMMANDER :

(sgd.) H. W. ALLEN
Colonel, AGD
Asst. Adjutant General