Dokdo territorial dispute holds back trilateral cooperation

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sun, December 10, 2023 | 10:14

Foreign Affairs

Dokdo territorial dispute holds back trilateral cooperation

Posted : 2022-05-31 16:12

Updated : 2022-06-01 15:03

The Dokdo islets / gettyimagesbank

Japan protests Seoul's marine survey near Dokdo

By Kang Seung-woo

Rosy prospects of enhanced three-way cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States against North Korea's growing threats face uncertainty as a long-running territorial dispute once again pits Seoul and Tokyo against each other.

Japan's claim to Dokdo, South Korea's easternmost islets, and other historical issues regarding its wartime atrocities, continue to overshadow their bilateral ties, dashing Washington's hopes for trilateral cooperation.

South Korea's new president and the U.S. leader, who visited Asia recently, have tried to change these dynamics, as evidenced by last week's unprecedented joint statement by their foreign ministers condemning Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches.

The Japanese foreign ministry lodged a protest against South Korea's marine survey around Dokdo for the second straight day, Sunday and Monday.

According to Japanese media reports, the ministry confirmed that a Korean research vessel had thrown something like a wire into the sea in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone and that South Korea had acknowledged the marine survey.

However, South Korea's foreign ministry rejected the claim, saying that it was unacceptable. The ministry also said that the survey was a legitimate activity in accordance with domestic and international laws.

The spat comes as new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to restore bilateral relations with Japan, something that the U.S. government has yearned for in order to deal effectively with North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and furthermore, to keep China's assertiveness in check.

South Korea-Japan ties have reached their lowest point in years due to Tokyo's imposition of export controls on three key materials critical for the semiconductor and display industries here, in apparent retaliation against a ruling by South Korea's Supreme Court ordering Japanese companies to compensate surviving Koreans victims of wartime forced labor.

Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden underscore the importance of trilateral cooperation for responding to North Korea's challenges, protecting shared security and prosperity, upholding common values and bolstering the rules-based international order, according to the joint statement from their May 21 summit in Seoul.

Amid mounting threats from North Korea, the three countries have shown signs of putting their heads together.

Their nuclear envoys are scheduled to hold a meeting in Seoul, Friday, while a vice-ministerial meeting is also being arranged. In addition, their defense ministers are expected to meet in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, scheduled for June 10 to 12.

While the Biden administration is stressing the importance of trilateral cooperation against North Korean aggression, however, the territorial dispute may disrupt such efforts, according to diplomatic observers.

As a matter of fact, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori called off a joint press conference following talks with South Korean and U.S. counterparts in Washington, D.C., last November, citing the South Korean police chief's visit to Dokdo.

The dispute also comes as the Kim Jong-un regime is highly anticipated to conduct a seventh nuclear test in the near future. According to South Korea's military, North Korea appears to have completed preparations for a nuclear test. It last detonated a nuclear device in September 2017.

South Korea has long maintained effective control of Dokdo with the permanent stationing of security personnel there. In April, the Japanese government claimed the islets belonged to the country in its annual report on foreign policy and activities, and in response, the South Korean foreign ministry called in the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese embassy here.

ksw@koreatimes.co.kr