Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Ministry of National Defense protests unfounded claims in Japan’s Defense White Paper: territorial claims over Dokdo and targeting radar on Japanese patrol plane

Ministry of National Defense strongly protests Tyoko’s claims on pending defense issues after summoning a Japanese defense attache in Korea;
Ministry clarifies that our country will respond sternly to any provocations over Dokdo

The Ministry of National Defense strongly protested Japan’s unilateral claims over pending defense issues, including Dokdo, targeting radar on a Japanese patrol plane, and the termination of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). Significantly, the ministry clarified that our country would respond sternly to any provocations over Dokdo.

On July 14, Lee Won-ik, director general of the ministry’s International Policy Bureau, called in Takashi Matsumoto (lieutenant of Japanese Air Self-Defense Force), a Japanese military attache stationed in Seoul, and lodged a strong complaint over Japan’s claims in its ‘Defense White Paper 2020.’ “We urged Japan to immediately retract the claims,” an official from the ministry said.

“We strongly protested the fact that Japan has repeatedly laid unjust territorial claims to Dokdo, which is our inherent territory, historically, geographically and under international law.”

The ministry clarified that Korea would respond sternly to any provocations that infringe upon our sovereignty over Dokdo. Expressing its deep disappointment with Japan’s repeated, unilateral, and unfounded claim that our warship had locked its targeting radar on a Japanese patrol plane, and its continued attempt to shift the blame to Korea for the non-participation of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force’s warships in the 2018 International Fleet Review, the ministry urged for an immediate correction.

Regarding the GSOMIA, the ministry stressed that our government had decided to halt the effect of our notification of the termination of GSOMIA to Japan and notified Japan of our decision, in order to take proactive action on the pending bilateral issues, while sternly urging Japan to make serious efforts to restore mutual trust between the two countries.

In every year since 2005, Japan has laid territorial claims to Dokdo in its Defense White Paper. Having been summoned by the ministry on Tuesday, Matsumoto did not respond to reporters asking him to comment on the defense white paper as he entered the building of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also strongly protested Japan’s territorial claims to Dokdo and urged for an immediate withdrawal of the claims through the MFA spokesperson’s comments.

Stating that “The Japanese government should realize that repeating its unjust and absurd claims to Dokdo does nothing to help bilateral relations between our two countries,” the MFA stressed, “Our government must clarify once again that the Japanese government’s unjust territorial claims to Dokdo do not affect our sovereignty over Dokdo, which is an inherent territory of the Republic of Korea (ROK).”

After calling in Hirohisa Soma, a senior diplomat from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Kim Jeong-han, deputy director-general of the MFA’s Asian and Pacific Affair Bureau, lodged a strong complaint over the claims stated in Japan’s defense white paper, and called for their withdrawal.

Earlier in the day, Japan adopted its ‘2020 Defense White Paper’ at a cabinet council presided over by Prime Minister Shinjo Abe. As in previous years, the defense white paper describes the issue of Dokdo as a matter that “remains unresolved,” along with the ongoing territorial dispute with Russia over the country’s Northern Territories (known as Kuril Islands). The paper also describes a Russian airplane’s intrusion into Dokdo, which occurred in July last year, as an intrusion into “Japan’s air defense zone.”

Regarding the GSOMIA, the defense white paper introduces then Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono’s statement: “Maintaining solidarity between the United States (US) and Japan, ROK and Japan, and ROK-US-Japan is important given the difficult security environment in East Asia. I think the ROK has made a strategic decision after considering the situation.” The paper also states that bilateral issues, including GSOMIA, participation in the International Fleet Review, and targeting radar on a Japanese patrol plane and a Japanese patrol plane’s low-altitude, threatening flight over the ROK ship, are “affecting defense cooperation and exchange,” referring to them as “problems between the defense authorities of the ROK and Japan.”

By Su-Yeol, Maeng <guns13@dema.mil.kr >
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