Northeast Asian History Network

After the founding of Joseon, the government used a retrieval policy to prevent people from residing on Ulleungdo. The purpose of this policy was to protect islands and coastal regions from Japanese intrusion and repatriate fugitives who had fled to evade compulsory labor and military service. The Joseon government instituted the retrieval policy and regularly dispatched officials to the islands and exercised sovereignty throughout history. The policy itself is a testament to the Joseon government’s dedication to the region and its effective control. Due to the disputes that arose as a result of fishing and logging activities by the Japanese in the late seventeenth century, the Edo shogunate issued the Takeshima (Ulleungdo) border crossing prohibition. The government continued to exercise sovereignty when the Ulleungdo “Inspection Policy” was subsequently instituted, and inspection officials were regularly dispatched to the island to monitor Japanese intrusion until the late nineteenth century.
The Japanese historical source “Records on Observations on Oki” described the Oki Islands as Japan’s northwestern boundary. Thus, Dokdo was excluded from its territory. When a territorial dispute arose between Joseon and Japan in the late seventeenth century as a direct result of An Yong-bok’s activities, the Edo shogunate inquired of Matsue domain, “Other than Jukdo (Ulleungdo), are any other islands excluded from the domain’s jurisdiction?” In the domain’s response, it was stated, “Including Takeshima (Ulleungdo) and Matsushima (Dokdo), there are no other islands included in the jurisdiction.” This reply was the basis for the Edo shogunate’s issuance of the Takeshima (Ulleungdo) border crossing prohibition on the twenty-eighth day of the first month of 1696.
The Confidential Inquiry into the Particulars of Korea’s Relations with Japan, issued in 1870 after Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a survey committee to Joseon, and the “Complete Map of Joseon,” issued by Japan’s Department of the Army in 1876, both labeled Ulleungdo and Dokdo as Joseon territory. The Daijōkan (Great Council of State), the highest decision-making office in the Meiji Japan government, issued in 1877 a “Daijōkan Order” which stated, “The case of Takeshima [Ulleungdo] and the other island [Dokdo] have no relation with Japan, and you must bear that in mind.” Historically, Japan had always recognized Dokdo’s Korean sovereignty prior to the islet’s illegal annexation in 1905.