Korea's Territorial Rights to Tokdo : A Historical Study

Preface

A controversy over the title to Tokdo (also known as Liancourt Rocks or Takeshima) arose between Korea and Japan in 1952 and has since continued to date. The Japanese government is laying claim to Tokdo and has brought the question before the International Court of Justice in 1954 and is trying hard to bring the island under its domination. Therefore, this controversy is expected to continue in the years ahead.

I have come to study the "controversy over the ownership of Tokdo" as part of my research on the history of modern Korea. Learning is a search for facts and truth, so I have examined the records and data available closely and have come to be convinced to which side Tokdo belongs.

Japan, while knowing Tokdo to be Korean territory, annexed it into its territory without consulting Korea in 1905. Today Japan is claiming the ownership of Tokdo. The grounds of its claim are examined here by a scholar free from prejudice and bias.

I have tried to make this book an easy-to-understand guide to the question of Tokdo on the basis of as many extant records and data as possible. I have scrutinized the entire span of Korean history relative to Tokdo. As a result, I am convinced that Tokdo is a Korean territory and not Japan's when viewed impartially and objectively. In this book, I have pointed out the unreasonableness of Japan's claim so far as the question of Tokdo is concerned.

I have said I have tried to make this book an easy-to-read guide for the English-speaking reader, but often found it unavoidable to use footnotes and references to corroborate my points as in an academic paper. This is for the sake of verification and I hope my readers will understand this.

The records and data I have used are explained briefly in the text and their sources are given in the footnotes. For further reading for interested readers, I have published a more specialized and elaborated book entitled A Historical Study on Tokdo as the Korean People's Territory (Tokdo i minjok yngt'o sajk yn'gu) by Chisiksanpsa Publishing Co. in Seoul.

I would like to extend my grateful appreciation to Presiden Young Suh Lee of Tonyang Magic Co. whose generous grant has made this translation possible, to Professor K. Jahng, formerly of Hanyang University for translating this book from the Japanese edition, to Mr. Teddi Bynam, a lecturer of English also at Hanyang University for proof-reading the English translation and providing valuable comments on it. My particularly warm gratitude goes to Tokdo Research Association of Korea for taking up the publication of this book, which, because of its nature, is not designed for commercial gain, but for the promotion of the understanding of the English-speaking andience of this little understood question.

December , 1997. Yong-Ha Shin