4 Chapter Reference
1 Background Information on The Imperial Ordinance No. 41 of the Great Han Empire
In 1899, Russia had legal logging rights in Ulleungdo. The Russian government submitted a written diplomatic protest to the government of the Great Han Empire after discovering illegal Japanese logging activity on the island. In May 1899, the Great Han Empire government prohibited illegal logging and dispatched Bae Gye-ju as mayor to Ulleungdo to oversee the Japanese colonists' activities.
Additionally, to eliminate the doubts of both the Russians and the Japanese, a foreign customs accountant working in Busan was assigned to accompany Bae Gye-ju to Ulleungdo to jointly investigate and report their findings. According to their report, hundreds of Japanese people had illegally formed a colony on Ulleungdo around May 1899, and they were conducting logging operations and shipping timber to Japan. Various agricultural commodities were also being harvested and transported.
Ulleungdo’s mayor Bae Gye-ju reported these findings to the Great Han Empire government and requested strong and decisive action from the government against the Japanese colonists. Upon receiving this report, the government contacted the Embassy of Japan and demanded that the illegal colonists return to Japan. In addition, demands were made for the punishment of these colonists for their transgressions in accordance with the Korea-Japan Trade Regulations of 1876.
However, to avoid responsibility, the Embassy of Japan responded by citing a rule from the Korea-Japan Trade Regulations which stated that the suspects must be transferred to Japanese control. In December 1899, after reconsidering the need for reactionary measures, the Great Han Empire government dispatched the Minister of Home Affairs Woo Yong-jung as part of an inspection committee to Ulleungdo to re-investigate the case. Woo Yong-jung, Japanese inspectors, and an unrelated third party formed the inspection committee.
Thus in 1900, Woo Yong-jung led the inspection committee to investigate. Members of the committee included Kim Myeon-su (Comptroller), E. Laporte (Busan customs tax accountant), Kim Sung-won, Akatsuka Seisuke (Vice-Consul gazette), and a police officer. The inspection committee arrived in Ulleungdo on May 31 and conducted investigations for five days in the presence of Laporte.
After the investigation, the Great Han Empire decided to minimize the need to establish defensive measures for Ulleungdo and Dokdo and instead to revise the administrative control of the area. On October 25, 1900, Imperial Ordinance No. 41 of the Great Han Empire declared that Ulleungdo be raised to Uldo County and raised the position of mayor of Ulleungdo to governor of Uldo County. Dokdo was placed under the administration of Uldo County governorship at this time.
2 Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Index Number 677 (SCAPIN)
The name of the document is Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Index Number 677. On August 15, 1945, Japan declared its unconditional surrender. The Japanese government made an official announcement to abide by the terms expressed in the Potsdam Declaration on September 9, 1945. After the Japanese Instrument of Surrender formalized the surrender of the Empire of Japan, the SCAP headquarters was installed in Tokyo to oversee the Allied occupation. To enforce the various provisions of the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration, SCAP began dismantling operations of the Empire of Japan. On January 29, 1946, SCAPIN 677 was issued, which had eight provisions. The purpose of the declaration was to define the scope of Japanese domain as the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku) and approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands. The third provision expressly excluded Ulleungdo, Dokdo, and Jejudo from Japanese territory. Ulleungdo, Dokdo, and Jejudo were expressly excluded from Japanese control and designated to be restored to the soon-to-be independent Korea. Dokdo was expressly excluded from the scope of Japan’s territorial, political, and administrative rights. Eventually, the Government of the Republic of Korea was established, and the contents of SCAPIN 677 remained intact until the United States military transferred control to the Korean government. The Government of the Republic of Korea received control over Dokdo as part of the Korean territory from the United States military.
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers Index Number 677
-
- GENERAL HEADQUARTERS SUPREME COMMANDER FOR THE ALLIED POWERS
- A-G 500
29 January 1946
-
AG 091 (29 Jan. 46)GS
(SCAPIN - 677)
MEMORANDUM FOR : IMPERIAL JAPANESE GOVERNMENT.
THROUGH : Central Liaison office, Tokyo.
SUBJECT : Governmental and Administrative Separation of Certain Outlying Areas from Japan.
-
1. The Imperial Japanese Government is directed to cease exercising, or attempting to exercise, governmental or administrative authority over any area outside of Japan, or over any government officials and employees or any other persons within such areas.
2. Except as authorized by this Headquarters, the Imperial Japanese Government will not communicate with government officials and employees or with any other persons outside of Japan for any purpose other than the routine operation of authorized shipping, communications and weather services.
3. For the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku) and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands, including the Tsushima Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands north of 30° North Latitude (excluding Kuchinoshima Island); and excluding (a) Utsuryo (Ullung) Island, Liancourt Rocks (Take Island) and Quelpart (Saishu or Cheju) Island, (b) the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands south of 30° North Latitude (including Kuchinoshima Island), the Izu, Nanpo, Bonin (Ogasawara) and Volcano (Kazan or Iwo) Island Groups, and all other outlying Pacific Islands [including the Daito (Ohigashi or Oagari) Island Group, and Parece Vela (Okino-tori), Marcus (Minami-tori) and Ganges (Nakano-tori) Islands], and (c) the Kurile (Chishima) Islands, the Habomai (Hapomaze) Island Group (including Suisho, Yuri, Akiyuri, Shibotsu and Taraku Islands) and Shikotan Island.
4. Further areas specifically excluded from the governmental and administrative jurisdiction of the Imperial Japanese Government are the following: (a) all Pacific Islands seized or occupied under mandate or otherwise by Japan since the beginning of the World War in 1914, (b) Manchuria, Formosa and the Pescadores, (c) Korea, and (d) Karafuto.
5. The definition of Japan contained in this directive shall also apply to all future directives, memoranda and orders from this Headquarters unless otherwise specified therein.
6. Nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration.
7. The Imperial Japanese Government will prepare and submit to this Headquarters a report of all governmental agencies in Japan the functions of which pertain to areas outside a statement as defined in this directive. Such report will include a statement of the functions, organization and personnel of each of the agencies concerned.
8. All records of the agencies referred to in paragraph 7 above will be preserved and kept available for inspection by this Headquarters.
-
FOR THE SUPREME COMMANDER:
- (signed)
H. W. ALLEN
Colonel, AGD
Asst. Adjutant General.
-
- General Headquarters, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
- (January 29, 1946)
-
AG 091 (29 Jan. 46)GS
(SCAPIN - 677)
IMPERIAL JAPANESE GOVERNMENT
THROUGH: Central Liaison office, Tokyo
SUBJECT: Governmental and Administrative Separation of Certain Outlying Areas from Japan
-
1. The Imperial Japanese Government is directed to cease exercising, or attempting to exercise, governmental or administrative authority over any area outside of Japan, or over any government officials and employees or any other persons within such areas.
2. Except as authorized by this Headquarters, the Imperial Japanese Government will not communicate with government officials and employees or with any other persons outside of Japan for any purpose other than the routine operation of authorized shipping, communications and weather services.
3. For the purpose of this directive, Japan is defined to include the four main islands of Japan (Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku) and the approximately 1,000 smaller adjacent islands, including the Tsushima Islands and the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands north of 30°North Latitude (excluding Kuchinoshima Island); and excluding (a) Utsuryo (Ullung) Island, Liancourt Rocks (Take Island) and Quelpart (Saishu or Cheju) Island, (b) the Ryukyu (Nansei) Islands south of 30°North Latitude (including Kuchinoshima Island), the Izu, Nanpo, Bonin (Ogasawara) and Volcano (Kazan or Iwo) Island Groups, and all other outlying Pacific Islands [including the Daito (Ohigashi or Oagari) Island Group, and Parece Vela (Okino-tori), Marcus (Minami-tori) and Ganges (Nakano-tori) Islands], and (c) the Kurile (Chishima) Islands, the Habomai (Hapomaze) Island Group (including Suisho, Yuri, Akiyuri, Shibotsu and Taraku Islands) and Shikotan Island.
4. Further areas specifically excluded from the governmental and administrative jurisdiction of the Imperial Japanese Government are the following: (a) all Pacific Islands seized or occupied under mandate or otherwise by Japan since the beginning of the World War in 1914, (b) Manchuria, Formosa and the Pescadores, (c) Korea, and (d) Karafuto.
5. The definition of Japan contained in this directive shall also apply to all future directives, memoranda and orders from this Headquarters unless otherwise specified therein.
6. Nothing in this directive shall be construed as an indication of Allied policy relating to the ultimate determination of the minor islands referred to in Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration.
7. The Imperial Japanese Government will prepare and submit to this Headquarters a report of all governmental agencies in Japan the functions of which pertain to areas outside a statement as defined in this directive. Such report will include a statement of the functions, organization and personnel of each of the agencies concerned.
8. All records of the agencies referred to in paragraph 7 above will be preserved and kept available for inspection by this Headquarters.
-
FOR THE SUPREME COMMANDER
- (signed)
H. W. ALLEN
Colonel, AGD
Asst. Adjutant General.