Japan criticizes S Korean PM's Takeshima visit

Tuesday 29th July, 11:09 PM JST

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nigelboy at 04:33 PM JST - 1st August

Japan's endless territorial disputes are par the norm for Northeast Asia, every Country in the area has endless territorial disputes (Balhae Kingdom comes to mind)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2070.html
browny1 at 06:43 PM JST - 1st August

NIGELBOY - that's beautiful!

A business man (can I guess - he was Korean? Japanese?)worried about the irregular fishing activities of the time, so he suggested to the Japanese govt. that the rocks had better come under some local jurisdiction. So they had a big meeting and invited all parties concerned - Korean & Japanese - and the consensus was - Japan better take control of these rocks coz someone has to do it.

Jeez, where do I start.
OssanULTRA at 12:44 AM JST - 2nd August

"and the consensus was - Japan better take control of these rocks coz someone has to do it."

Actually, if this took place in the late 1800s or very early 1900s, I don't think Korea had the resources to take control.
dogbert at 07:16 AM JST - 2nd August

If Koreans truly feel that they have the empirical data and concrete evidence supporting their claim to Liancourt Rocks, why is it that they hesitate to bring it to the international court? It seems as though the reason is because Korean culture really doesn't respect court and third party arbitation of the law. In Korea, court decisions are probably not respected at all. In a corrupt society like Korea which does not respect legal ethics, whoever has the most money and can buy their way to power or whoever has "friends" in high places will probably rule and be most respected. I think in Korea, people respect money more than they do the law.
nipponlove at 01:34 PM JST - 2nd August

dogbert, you have insisted on your childish argument when Japan has nothing to lose but a lot to gain from their sneaky game. Japan wants to lure Korea into playing their stupid games but Korea is smart enough to ignore Japan's argument. Once again you may whine as much as you want but Korea will NOT play Japan's childish games or negotiate. That's the whole point to this. Get it?
bibric at 04:51 AM JST - 3rd August

*nipponlove *

Excellent point!
OssanULTRA at 06:02 AM JST - 3rd August

"dogbert, you have insisted on your childish argument when Japan has nothing to lose but a lot to gain from their sneaky game"

What sbneaky game are you talking about? There is nothing "sneaky" about requesting SKOrea to settle the dispute before the ICJ. What SKorea did by occupying the disputed rocks is indeed "sneaky".

"Japan wants to lure Korea into playing their stupid games but Korea is smart enough to ignore Japan's argument."

Japan wants to lure SKOrea into doing what every other civilized nation would do. If you think that settling a territorial dispute before the ICJ or htrough direcy bilateral negotiations is a "stupid game" then it's only SKorea that thinks so because that's how the entire world settles disputes. Perhaps SKOrea is not mature enough to be a member of the international community?
OssanULTRA at 06:14 AM JST - 3rd August

It's very evident after all these exchanges that SKorea is afraid to settle before the ICJ. They only reason they would be afraid to do so is if they were not confident in all this evidence that they claim to have. Hence they make up excuse after another as to why they won't go before the ICJ, when common sense dictates that doing so and ending this matter would be to SKOrea's benefit. Constantly repeating that SKorea owns the rocks, constantly harping on Japans WWII history are all excuses, and the entire world has seen just what kind of country SKorea is, where hyper-nationalism based on false history and propaganda permeates the society from top to bottom in a hopeless effort to overcome a massive inferiority complex developed perhaps due to the fact that Korea has existed in the shadow of China's past greatness and Japan's modern achievements. The result is behavior which appears to the objective observer to be childish and silly. I personally have never advocated that the Liancourt Rocks belong to Japan. I have merely pointed out that ownership is disputed and it would be in SKorea's interests to settle peacefully at the ICJ since a biliateral negotiation appears impossible. Even SKorean news sources have noted that Skorea's behavior is not working to their advantage. SKOrea has tremendous potential and before it gets over run by China's economic offensive, they should get their house in order for their own sake.
USAPatriot at 10:16 AM JST - 3rd August

Funny to see the pro Japan guys squirming, as they have lost the argument. Tee Hee!

Does any of you, look at the internet and try to find out the facts?

The islands have been KOrean since 512AD.
hermitage at 12:40 PM JST - 3rd August

Before Japan annexed Korea, the islets were owned by Japan, and its incorporation was legal. The official statement about the issue by the Japaense government is here.

Therefore, the San Francisco Peace Treaty did not require Japan to renounce the ownership of the islets. This is a very simple logical conclusion, and easy to understand.

The "dispute" did not exist before Syngman Rhee's arbitrary, illegal declaration of Korean territories and occupation of the islets.
hermitage at 12:41 PM JST - 3rd August

The official statement about the issue by the Japaense government is here: http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/takeshima/index.html

(ah, it seems no link is allowed).
browny1 at 05:07 PM JST - 3rd August

Hermitage - the "Official line of the Japanese Govt" only reinforces the Official line of the Japanese Govt.

The Japanese foreign ministry has no other barrow to push other than one supportive of itself.

Dwelve a little deeper into 1905 and you will find differing perspectives, which may or may not show definitive claim by any party, BUT as sure as hell they don't show that the rocks belong to Japan.

Japan pours tons & tons of concrete on a coral reef barely exposed at high tide in an attempt to "build an Island" (BTW at odds with the International Convention of the Sea) and claim a 200km exclusive economic zone - so why would anybody think that Japan in this instance (Takeshima)is acting in all good faith. They simply are trying to exercise economic claims in a rapidly shrinking world, but they won't admit it , hence the blah, blah historical claims on Takeshima.

The Japanese foreign mimnistry (and others) is awash with self-indulgence, to the extemt it actually believes it's own voice to be true in all cases. Can't be right all of the time.
hermitage at 10:48 PM JST - 3rd August

browny1 wrote:

The Japanese foreign mimnistry (and others) is awash with self-indulgence, to the extemt it actually believes it's own voice to be true in all cases.

The self-indulgence of the Japanese government, if it's true (and I don't deny it can be very true), may be better than the despotic arbitrary declaration of the territorial ownership and the occupation of Takeshima/Dokdo and by Syngman Rhee in the 1950s.

It seems the Japanese government's policy has been consistent since the end of WWII, and she has had a more restrained type of diplomacy than Korea. Also, most people in Japan today look indifferent to this issue, because the government is not instigating people to rail against a neighboring country.

Yes, I agree. This Japan's restrained yet consistent indulgence in her own policy may be useless. But the dispute will encourage people to look to their nation's own history, which is not too distant. I myself don't mind, if Japan's assertion is perfectly proved to be untrule, if logically done. I just want to say here, "calm down". Before raising our hand and yelling, we can think.
nipponlove at 10:56 PM JST - 5th August

OssanUltra, OK yes Korea is very very very very .........very and very afraid to come to the ICJ, because there is absolutely nothing else that comes even close to be as absurd as Japan's territorial claim. Are you satisfied? You can repeat your same old comments over and over and over... over again for the rest of your islander life but Japan's utter absurdity will only get more of the same silence treatment. Cry baby ,,,Cry......
nigelboy at 11:29 AM JST - 7th August

"A business man (can I guess - he was Korean? Japanese?)worried about the irregular fishing activities of the time, so he suggested to the Japanese govt. that the rocks had better come under some local jurisdiction. So they had a big meeting and invited all parties concerned - Korean & Japanese - and the consensus was - Japan better take control of these rocks coz someone has to do it.

Jeez, where do I start."

Why would Koreans be involved? There is absolutely no evidence that they knew about the islands before that time. That's the WHOLE POINT of the argument.