Upon the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, Japan ratified the first Korea-Japan Protectorate Treaty in February, 1904 and installed a wireless telegraph facility and watchtower on Ulleungdo in August of 1904. Under the influence of Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Navy officials, a fisherman named Nakai Yōzaburō, of Shimane Prefecture, who had sought to monopolize seal-hunting near Dokdo, submitted the Request for Territorial Incorporation of Liancodo to the Japanese government in September of 1904. In accordance with this petition, the Japanese government’s cabinet agreed to the incorporation on January 28, 1905, after reviewing the “case of the uninhabited island” and deciding to rename Dokdo as “Takeshima.” About one month later, on February 22, “Shimane Prefecture Notice No. 40” was issued. The decision was made unilaterally without any prior inquiry or notice being given to the Great Han Empire. Notably, the “annexation of
terra nullius” claimed during this time later changed to a “reaffirmation of sovereignty” by the 1950s. This is because Japan had realized that claiming a pre-emptive annexation of its own territory is contradictory. The “reaffirmation of sovereignty” contradicts the Takeshima (Ulleungdo) border crossing prohibition of 1696, the 1877 order issued by the Daijōkan, and other official positions taken by the Japanese government.