Dokdo, Beautiful Island of Korea | MOFA Republic of Korea

MOFA Spokesperson’s Statement on Japanese Foreign Minister’s Remarks regarding Dokdo and Sado Island Gold Mines in Foreign Policy Speech (January 30, 2024): 1. The government of the Republic of Korea strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory historically, geographically and under international law, in the Japanese Foreign Minister’s foreign policy speech at the National Diet of Japan on January 30. The ROK government urges the Japanese government to immediately withdraw such claims.

2. The ROK government makes it clear once again that the Japanese government’s unjust claims do not and will not have any impact on the ROK’s sovereignty over Dokdo, an integral part of the ROK territory, and that it will respond firmly to any provocation over Dokdo.

3. The Japanese government should be clearly aware that repeatedly making unjust claims over Dokdo is in no way conducive to the efforts to establish a future-oriented relationship between the ROK and Japan.

4. In addition, considering that the “Sado Island Gold Mines” have a painful history of wartime forced mobilization, as in the case of the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution,” the ROK government reiterates that it is crucial to reflect the full history of the “Sado Island Gold Mines” in order to discuss its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.