Military-Strategic Value

Military Value

Dokdo's military value was clearly demonstrated at the 'Great Sea Battle of the East Sea,' which was the last battle of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.

At that time, Japan changed Dokdo's name to Dakeshima(竹島) and put it under the administration of Shimane Prefecture's Okinoshima Island. On January 28, 1905, the Japanese Cabinet Conference forcefully absorbed Dokdo into Japanese territories. Japan was able to defeat the powerful Russian Navy because they built a watchtower in Dokdo on August 19, 1905.
The Korean Government has established a communication base in Dokdo to use it as a strategic base. The watchtower in Dokdo allows us to monitor the Pacific Fleet Russia and the movements of naval and air forces of North Korea and Japan and provides us with enough military data for peace and security in Northeast Asia.

Strategic Value

When Japan declared the EEZ to Russia in 1977, they carefully excluded any region that may incur conflicts against Korea and China. In this respect, Japan’s reckless remarks about Dokdo since February 1996 seem to be strongly related to Japan’s political conditions.

Japan had restrained any official announcements concerning Dokdo in order to maintain a friendly relationship with Korea. Japan’s sudden change in attitude, however, seems to have some connection with the Hashimoto Ryutaro Administration. When Hashimoto was elected the Prime Minister of Japan, Korea was actually worried about Korea’s diplomatic relationship with Japan.

Our worries have become a reality when Hashimoto mentioned Japan’s ownership of Dokdo. In detail, there are four major reasons why Japan is intentionally making Dokdo an issue.

As Korea is actually administering Dokdo, Japan cannot take over Dokdo right now. However, Japan intends to leave diplomatic records by constantly mentioning this issue. By doing so, Japan wants the world to know that Korea and Japan are fighting over the ownership of Dokdo and intends to make it easier for them to start the real diplomatic dispute when the best time comes.

Japan intends to talk about Dokdo in relation to the Senkaku Islands (currently dominated by Japan) and the southern islands of the Kurils (known as Four Northern Islands in Japan; currently dominated by Russia). Japan is disputing against China and Taiwan for the Senkaku Islands and against Russia for the Kurils. By taking a strong position toward Dokdo, Japan can clearly protest against the three other opponents.

Almost every nation in the world tends to establish their 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zones. In the near future, Korea and Japan would need to begin the negotiations to establish this line between them. Japan is probably using Dokdo as a key to have better outcomes for themselves.

Among the above four reasons, the third and fourth reasons are directly related to the Japanese Government’s stances since February 1996. We should not be relieved just because Korea and Japan jointly hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2002 and the summits had a pleasant talk in Jejudo Island last June 23. Japan’s basic strategy toward Dokdo has not been modified or abolished.

This is why the Korean Government and people must stop being too emotional and compulsive, but be prepared in a long-term perspective to protect Dokdo.