Japan claims that the Republic of Korea is illegally occupying Dokdo
The Republic of Korea is illegally occupying Dokdo without any basis of international law. Thus no measure taken by the Republic of Korea during the illegal occupation with regard to Dokdo has any legal justification. Japan strongly protests against and requests withdrawal of the measures taken by the Republic of Korea.
Japan’s claims is not true because...
the Republic of Korea is exercising its legitimate sovereignty over Dokdo.
Japan annexed Dokdo through the Shimane Prefectural Notice in 1905, and the Japanese Government-General of Korea began to illegally rule Korea from 1910. However, as the Allied Powers won World War II, Korea regained its territorial sovereignty over Dokdo. Immediately after its establishment in August of 1948, the Republic of Korea gave Dokdo an address (1, Dodong, Nam-myeon, Ulleung-gun, North Gyeongsang-do), and began exercising its sovereignty over the island, and neither the Allied Powers nor Japan raised any objection to this.
Now the island has residents. South Korean police officers and public officials are protecting the island and operating various installations such as a lighthouse and a radiation detector all year round. (See Material 14.) Currently, ferries based in Ulleungdo sail between Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Every year 100,000 tourists from home and abroad visit Dokdo.
The Republic of Korea government designated the island as “Natural Monument No. 336: Dokdo Breeding Ground for Seabirds” in 1982 and as an “Environmentally Protected Area” in 1999. As elaborated so far, the Republic of Korea government exercises firm territorial sovereignty over Dokdo based upon legal grounds.
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- MATERIAL 14. Resident housing, lighthouse, and radiation detector on Dokdo
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