Chapter XII SCAPIN No. 677 and retrocession of Tokdo to Korea

1. Definition of "Japanese Territory" in SCAPIN No. 677

After Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 and the instrument of surrender was signed on September 2, the Supreme Command for Allied Powers (SCAP) GHQ was set up in Tokyo to begin implementing immediately the Cairo and Potsdam Declarations.

On January 29, 1946 GHQ issued a memorandum, SCAPIN No. 677 entitled "Governmental and Administrative Separation of Certain Outlying Areas from Japan" and sent it to the Imperial Japanese Government. GHQ used the expression "definition of Japan" and clearly defined the limits of the Japanese territory and the scope of Japanese exercise of its political and administrative sovereignty.

In the memorandum, Tokdo (Takeshima/Liancourt Rocks) is separated and removed from Japan. Article 3 of the directive reads:

For the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku) and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands, including the Tsushima Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansel Islands north of 30¡ÆNorth Latitude (excluding Kuchinoshima Island); and excluding (a) Utsuryo (Ullng) Island, Liancourt Rocks (Take Island) and Quelpart (Saishu or Cheju Island), (b) the Ryukyu (Nansel) Islands south of 30¡ÆNorth Latitude (excluding Kuchinoshima Island), the Izu, Nanpo, Bonin (Ogasawara) and Volcano (Kazan or lwo) Island Groups, and all other outlying Pacific Islands (including the Daito (Ohigashi or Oagari Islands), and (c) the Kurile (Chishima) Islands, the Habomai (Hapomazc) Island group (including Suisho, Yuri, Akiyuri, Shibotsu and Taraku Islands) and Shikotan Island."

2. SCAP GHQ Restores Tokdo to Korea.

In the directive, we should note the grouping of territories. SCAPIN No. 677 classified the areas to be excluded from the government and administrative jurisdiction of Japan into (a), (b) and (c). Ullngdo, Tokdo and Chejudo were included in (a) as the areas to be restored to Korea when it had become independent in the future.

By SCAPIN No. 677, Tokdo was completely and permanently excluded from the Japanese territory and the exercise of its sovereignty, and reverted to the caretaker U.S. Military Government in Korea on January 29, 1946, and finally to the Republic of Korea proclaimed on August 15, 1948.

3. Conditions for Revision of a SCAP GHQ Directive

Soon after the controversy arose over the ownership of Tokdo, the Japanese government invoked Article 6 of the SCAPIN No. 677:

"Nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration." And Japan argued that this directive did not define the Japan's territory.

However, this paragraph should be construed as "...a qualifying clause, reserving the right for the Allied Powers to modify or revise its policy in the future, regarding the definition of Japan without deflecting from the terms of the Potsdam Declaration" embodied in SCAPIN No. 677.

This is clear in Article 5 of the directive that reads: "The definition of Japan contained in this directive shall also apply to all future directives, memoranda and orders from this Headquarters unless otherwise specified therein."

This means that any revision of this "definition of Japan" is possible only by the issuance of another "specific directive." Otherwise, the definition of Japan is final.

For emphasis, this can be put in the following way: SCAPIN No. 677 excluded Tokdo, Ullngdo and Chejudo from Japanese territory. If it wanted to revise the directive and return Tokdo to Japan, for example, it should issue another specific directive to that effect.

SCAPIN 677 was twice revised before April 28, 1952 when Japan's Peace Treaties became operative: SCAPIN 841 issued on March 22, 1946 returned Izu and Nanpo Islands to Japan; the revised SCAPIN 677 dated December 5, 1951 returned the islands between 30¡Æto 29¡Ælat. and Kagoshima Ten Village Islands to Japanese sovereignty.

These were "specific" revisions to SCAPIN 677 in accordance with paragraph 5 of the directive. However, no such directives, memoranda and/or orders were ever issued to affect the territorial status of Tokdo.

4. SCAPIN No. 1033 and Reconfirmation of Korea's Title to Tokdo

Further, on June 22, 1946, SCAPIN No. 1033 was announced. In Para. 3, a zone permitting fishing and whaling by Japanese, popularly known as the McArthur Line, was established and in its Para. 3 (b) Japanese access to Tokdo was prohibited as follows:

Japanese vessels and crews shall not come within the area nearer than 12 nautical miles of Takeshima situated at 37¡Æ15' N., and 131¡Æ53' E., nor shall they have any access to the islands.

This also confirms that Tokdo was excluded from the territory of Japan and returned to Korea.

After Tokdo reverted to Korea under the U.S. military government, an academic survey team headed by the president of the Korean History Compilation Committee of the U.S. military government in Korea was sent to Tokdo for ten days from August 16 to 25, 1947.

Immediately before the establishment of the Republic of Korea, on June 30, 1948, 30 Korean fishermen engaged in a fishing operation off Tokdo were killed by bombing by mistake during a U.S. air force exercise. On April 25, 1950, after the Republic of Korea came into being, the Fifth U.S. Air Force investigated the incident and admitted on May 4 that fishing at Tokdo and in the adjacent waters was not banned and the area was not covered for the bombing exercise.

During the Korean war (1950-53), it was rumored that Tokdo had been selected as a base for U.S. air force exercises by a Joint US-Japan Committee. The Korean government protested and the U.S. Air Force sent an official letter dated February 27, 1953 to the Korean government, stating that Tokdo would be excluded from the bombing exercise.

This is forther evidence that the U.S. recognized Tokdo as Korean territory.