Dokdo-or-Takeshima?: 5/1/13

23.5.13

Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories Part II

I.Documents concerned with “Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories”

1) U.S. Draft dated November 2, 1949(original source is here)

The Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs of US Dos assumed that Japan cedes a part of her territory to China and Soviet directly.

Article 4
1. Japan hereby cedes to China in full sovereignty the island of Taiwan (Fomasa) and ……….
Article 5
1. Japan hereby cedes to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in full sovereignty the portion of the island of Sakhalin (Karafuto) …….
Article 6
1. Japan hereby renounces in favor of Korea all rights and titles to the Korean mainland territory……..

2) Sebald’s proposal about the method of the disposition, November 19, 1949(original source is here)

Sebald recommended a subsidiary document which define disposition than the direct cession by the treaty.

Article 4 through 12. We suggest that in the treaty Article 4 through 12 of the November 2 draft be omitted, and that in a document subsidiary to the treaty among the signatories other than Japan the disposition of the treaties formerly under Japanese jurisdiction be agreed upon. The necessity of direct cession would thereby be removed from the treaty proper and Japan would not rest under the necessity of being a party to it.

3) Boggs's proposal about the territorial clauses on Dec 8 , 1949 (original source is here)

Boggs drafted territorial clauses according to the Sebald's suggestion and sent to the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs.

Article 4
Japan hereby [cedes and] renounces all territory <, all territorial claims ???????> and all mandate, and concession rights, titles and claims outside the territorial area described in Article 3, and accepts the disposition of these territories that has been made or that may be made by the parties concerned, or by the United Nations in accordance with the trusteeship provisions of Articles 77, 79, and 85 of the Charter of the United Nations.

4) Territorial Clauses & Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories, Dec 15, 1949(original source is here)

The Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs modified the Boggs's territorial clauses and drafted the "Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories". The draft of the agreement was incomplete with many mistakes.　"Territorial Clauses" and "Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories" contradicts in the point of Takeshima. The Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs sent those documents to the Legal Adviser of Dos on Dec 15, 1949.

Territorial Clauses of Peace Treaty
Article4
1. Japan hereby renounces on behalf of itself and its nationals all territorial and mandate rights, titles and claims outside the territorial area described in Article 3.
2. The Allied and Associated Powers retain their rights in respect to disposition of the territories referred to in the preceding paragraph which were under Japanese sovereignty, pending conclusion of an agreement or agreements among them providing for disposition of such territories.

Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories

Article3
The Allied and Associated Powers agree that there shall be transferred in full sovereignty to the Republic of Korea all rights and titles to the Korean Mainland territory and all offshore Korean islands, including Quelpart　(Saishu To), the Nan　how group (San To,　or Komun Do) which forms port Hamilton (Tonaikai),　Dagelet Island (Utsuryo To,　or Matsu Shima),　Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima),....

5) The Legal Adviser responded to the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs on Dec 19, 1949(original source is here)

The Legal Adviser was negative for making a two ducument plan. This is last record about the draft of the agreement. Dos did not correct even mistakes of the draft.

Since territorial dispositions are generally matters of considerable importance to the various nations concerned, most nations would doubtless desire that the disposing document be of the same dignity, namely, a treaty. Hence, two documents would need to be ratified. Where the intended recipient is agreed upon, and no important matters call for outside action, it would be a matter of some difficulty to explain to other nations the necessity for the departure from practice, unless a substantial reason appeared. It is our understanding that the reason advanced for separate documents in the case of cession of Japanese territory is that the absence of “cession to” clauses in the Treaty of Peace will be of psychological benefit to Japan.

6) U.S. Draft dated December 29, 1949(original source is here)

The Bureau of EA gave up two documents plan and rolled back to the direct cession plan.

Article 5
2. Japan hereby cedes to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in full sovereignty the portion of the Kurile islands.
Article 6
1. Japan hereby renounces in favor of Korea all rights and titles to the Korean mainland territory……..

7) S.F. treaty on September 8, 1951

Finally, Allies gave up direct cession and Japan simply renounced her territory by the treaty.

(a) Japan recognizing the independence of Korea, renounces all right, title and claim to Korea, including the islands of Quelpart, Port Hamilton and Dagelet.
(b) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores.
(c) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.

However Allies did not determine the disposition of the renounced territory. Then the disposition became indefinite.

PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW, Ian Brownlie
Sovereignty may also be indeterminate so far as the process of secession may not be seen to be complete at any precise point in time. [...] For example, in a peace treaty Japan renounced all right to Fomasa. However, Fomasa has not been the subject of any act of disposition; it has not been transferred to any state.

II. Analysys of “Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories”

１）FACT

This draft of the agreement is the primitive draft which has many mistakes and blanks. US Dos swiftly abandoned this draft after receiving the Legal adviser's suggestion.

This draft of the agreement is internal document of the US Dos. Allies didn't know this draft of the agreement, because US Dos didn't distribute to Allies. Allies neither signed or ratify at this document, too.
This draft of the agreement is contradictory to the San Francisco treaty about Takeshima. The Allies don't have authority to dispose a territory without an agreement of Japan. Because Japan didn't renounce Takeshima at the SF treaty, Allies don't have the power of disposition about Takeshima.

2）The difference from the Rusk note

Rusk note was made based on the treaty draft dated June 14. The sentence of the Article2 of this draft is same as the S.F. treaty. Then Rusk note is adjusted with S.F. treaty. But this draft of the agreement contradicts the S.F. treaty
While Rusk note was a formal bilateral diplomatic document issued by drafter of the Treaty and sent to ROK government, this draft in concern was just an internal primitive document which has no trace of distribution to any other countries outside.

Which is more important between the San Francisco treaty with signatures by Allies and Japan, and this draft of the agreement without signatures? Of course, priority is given to the S.F. treaty. Supplementary means of interpretation of the treaty can't use in order to deny the treaty.

3) Korean interpretation

Dokdo Research and Preservation Association & Dokdo Institute
"Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories"(1950) drafted in preparation for the San Francisco Treaty in 1951 stated Dokdo as a"Korean territory' in substantive enactment. Therefor although Dokdo was not mentioned in San Francisco Peace Treaty, Dokdo was recognized as a Korean territory in "Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories" and "SCAPIN No. 677".

"Agreement Respecting the Disposition of Former Japanese Territories" is internal primitive draft. Because Japan and Allies didn't agree, this draft of the agreement is legally invalid. Moreover the their interpretation about SF treaty violates the "Principle of Completeness of Boundary Treaties" of the international law.

Advisory Opinion of the Permanent Court on the Interpretation of Article 3, Paragraph 2, of the Treaty of Lausanne (1925)
It is . . . natural that any article designed to fix a frontier should, if possible, be so interpreted that the result of the application of its provisions in their entirety should be the establishment of a precise, complete and definitive frontier.

Special thanks to Matsu and Kaneganese

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NE Shore of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도)

This satellite photo shows Ulleungdo's neighboring islands of Gwaneumdo (觀音島) and Jukdo (竹島) off Ulleungdo's east shore. Gwaneumdo is only about 100 meters offshore and looks more like a cape than an island. Jukdo is about 2 km offshore. The old Korean name for Jukdo was "Usando" (于山島), as many of Korea's old maps show. Koreans claim that Usando was Korea's old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no documents or maps to prove it. Also, Liancourt Rocks is about ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo and are essentially two islands, but all of Korea's old maps show it as one island just off shore of Ulleungdo.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1860 - 1872)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed it with a small island off its eastern shore labeled as "Usan" (于山). Hash marks at the bottom of the map showed that Usan was less than 4 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. That would mean that it would be Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo and is essentially two islands, not one. The map is stored in the National Library of Korea.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1834)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed Usan (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. The hash marks at the bottom of the map showed the island to be about 4 km offshore. Usando was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km of Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim false. The map is stored in Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Center for Korean Studies.

"Dong Yeodo" (東輿圖) Atlas (1795 - 1800)

This map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a neighboring island labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim wrong. The map is stored in Japan's "University of Tsukuba Library" (筑波大学附属図書館).

"Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖) - 1800 - 1822

This map of Ullelungdo (鬱陵島) is from the Korean atlas "Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖), which is believed to have been made sometime between 1800 and 1822. Ulleungdo is shown with a neighboring island labeled as Usan (于山). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others show that it was Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is Ulleungdo's largest neighboring island and only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. The map is stored in the Osaka Nakanoshima Library (中之島圖書館).

"Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿) - late 1800s?)

This map of Ulleungdo comes from an atlas entitled "Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿), which was probably made in the late 1800s since the map is very similarly to another map of Ulleungdo that was made between 1884 and 1894. The mapmaker used gridlines to help show relative size and distance. The map shows Ulleungdo with a small island off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山), which was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도). Jukdo is Ulleungdo's largest neighoring island and is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no maps or documents to prove it. The map is stored in the Korean National Library.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1750 - 1768)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed "Usan" (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island. The grid lines on the map helped show the small island's relative distance from Ulleungdo. Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Korean's claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others prove that claim false.

Inspector's Map of Ulleungdo (1711)

The map is an inspector's map that showed Ulleungdo with an island off its east shore labeled as "the so-called Usando" (所謂于山島). The small island was also labeled as having "fields of haejang bamboo" (海長竹田). Koreans claim that Usando was Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map shows that it could not have been Dokdo since Dokdo is just rocks without the soil to grow haejang bamboo. Also, Usando was shown as a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo. Stored in Seoul Nat'l University's Kyujanggak Institute of Korean Studies.

"Haejwa Jeondo" (海左全圖) - mid 1800s

This old Korean map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is evidence against the Korean claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands 92 kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usan on this map is just off Ulleungdo's east shore and is only one island. In fact, Usando was the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore.

Carte de la Coree (1846)

This map was made iin 1846 by Kim Dae-geon (金大建), who was Korea's first Catholic priest. He made this map for the benefit of the French priest he works with. He was killed by the Joseon government the same year this map was made. The map shows Ulleungdo labeled in French as "Oulangto" and its neighboring island of Usando labeled as "Ousan." Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rock), but this map shows Usando as one island just of the east shore of Ulleungdo. That tells us that Usando was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only 2 kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Also, this island could not have been Liancourt Rocks since Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands not one. The original of this map is stored in the National Library of France.

Joseon Jeondo (朝鮮全圖) from the "Gakdo Jido" (各道地圖) Atlas (latter 18th c.)

This old Korean map showed an island labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도) just off the east shore of Ulleundo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is more evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map shows Usando as one island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in Korea's Yeongnam University Museum.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1898)

"Donggyeong San Cheon - Paldo Jido (東京山川八道地圖) Atlas (date unknown)

"Jeongukdo" (全國圖) from the "Dongguk Daecheondo" (東國大全圖) - 1740

This old Korean map shows Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo, but this map is evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usando on this map is one island just off the east shore of Ulleungdo. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in the Korean National Museum.

竹島問題の歴史