Japanese Foreign Minister “Dokdo is a Japanese Territory” Dokdo provocation for 8 consecutive years

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. [EPA=연합뉴스]

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (photo) reasserted Dokdo as Japanese territory in a diplomatic speech on the 18th. It is the eighth year since 2014 that the Japanese Foreign Minister insisted that Dokdo is its territory in a diplomatic speech.

Foreign Minister Motegi said in a speech explaining the basic direction of foreign policy on the occasion of the opening of the regular National Assembly on this day, “Takeshima (the official name of Dokdo that Japan claims) is a territory unique to Japan even in the light of historical facts and international law.” He said, “Based on this basic position (to Korea and the international community), we will respond calmly and desperately.”

He also responded to the recent ruling that the Korean court ordered the Japanese government to compensate the victims of comfort women as “a strange situation that cannot be considered in the relationship between the two countries under international law,” and “we are accepting it with great regret.” He also expressed that Korea-Japan relations were’in a strict situation’ due to the issue of conscription workers and comfort women during the Japanese occupation.

While expressing South Korea as a “important neighbor” and stressing that Korea-US-Japan cooperation is indispensable for regional stability and North Korea countermeasures, he strongly criticized South Korea for the recent deterioration of Korea-Japan relations.

Japan’s Mainichi Newspaper delivers remarks by President Moon Jae-in on comfort women in Japan. [마이니치 홈페이지 캡처]

On the other hand, President Moon Jae-in said at a New Year’s press conference on the 18th, “It is true that the issue of the comfort women judgment was added to the issue of the judgment of comfort women during the diplomatic resolution of the issue of export restrictions and forced conscription. He said, “It is not desirable for the relationship between Korea and Japan to execute the judgment in a manner such as being cashed in by forced execution.” President Moon said, “We will discuss between Korea and Japan to find a solution to which the victims’ grandmothers will agree.”

Major Japanese media, such as the Mainichi Newspaper and Yomiuri Newspaper, conveyed the news of President Moon’s remarks as breaking news and gave meaning to them. The Yomiuri Shimbun evaluated that it was the first time that President Moon, who has repeatedly said he respects judicial judgment, “has expressed his desire to avoid cashing in Japanese corporate assets.” Kyodo News Agency also evaluated that “the Japanese government is looking for a way to avoid the sale of Japanese assets in order to avoid intensifying confrontation as the Japanese government comes out with a court ruling on comfort women.

Reporter Dayoung Kim [email protected]