Dokdo is located 87.4 km from Ulleungdo (Korea) but 157.5km from the Oki Islands (Japan). Dokdo is visible to the naked eye from Ulleungdo, but not from the Oki Islands.
Korea has been aware of Dokdo’s existence since the 6th century. Japan, on the other hand, had not known about Dokdo until the 17th century. There are also a number of Japanese historical records and old maps in which Japan itself acknowledges that Dokdo is not its territory.
the Korean Empire legally proclaimed Dokdo as its territory, stipulating in its Imperial Decree No. 41 (1900) that Dokdo is under the jurisdiction of Ulleungdo. Japan’s Shiname Prefecture later illegally incorporated Dokdo into its territory by issuing Notice No. 40 (1905).
is a 2000 year-old name. It was only during the Japanese colonial period that the “Sea of Japan” came to be widely used. This erroneous usage persists to date, and that is what we are trying to rectify.
Dokdo in the East Sea is the rightful territory of the Republic of Korea, geographically, historically, and from the standpoint of international law.