The Korean-Japanese Territorial Dispute Over Dokdo/Takeshima

This thesis explores the Korean-Japanese territorial dispute over the sovereignty of DokdoTakeshima. The Japanese government has argued that DokdoTakeshima is inherently Japanese territory. But this thesis demonstrates the baselessness of this argument by exploring the two countries views of DokdoTakeshimas status before and after the Russo-Japanese War and focuses in particular on Japans incorporation of DokdoTakeshima in 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War, an important episode in the contemporary dispute over the island s status. Before the Russo-Japanese War, both Korea and Japan recognized DokdoTakeshima as Korean territory. In the course of the war, Japan attempted to offset Russian threats to Japan s sea lanes by constructing observation posts along the Korean coastline. In doing so, Japanese officials incited a Japanese fisherman to petition to incorporate DokdoTakeshima into Japanese territory. In the end, Japan surreptitiously incorporated DokdoTakeshima into its territory and constructed an observation post on the island that was dismantled after the war. Nevertheless, Tokyo continued to recognize DokdoTakeshima as part of Korean territory even after its incorporation in 1905 and its formal annexation of Korea in 1910.