Japan expected to take litigation step on its own


Seoul on Thursday sent Tokyo a diplomatic document rebuffing Japan’s proposal to bring the spat over the Dokdo islets to the International Court of Justice.

Calling the rejection “very disappointing,” Japan’s Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said that his government will seek proper measures including referring the case to the court on its own, according to Kyodo News.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry gave the document to an official from the Japanese Embassy who visited the government building in the morning.

“Japan’s wrongful claim over Dokdo is an act of undermining our sovereignty,” ministry spokesperson Cho Tai-young said during a regular briefing, urging Tokyo to immediately stop it.

“Dokdo is unequivocal Korean territory historically, geographically and under the international law. We made it clear (through the document) that it is not under dispute and there is no reason whatsoever to respond to Japan’s written proposal (for ICJ litigation).”

In protest of President Lee Myung-bak’s Aug. 10 visit to the islets and his call for Emperor Akihito’s apology for Japan’s colonial atrocities, Tokyo delivered last Tuesday to a Korean mission its written proposal to have the fray taken to the ICJ.

Cho added that through the document, Seoul reminded Tokyo of the “historical fact” that Dokdo is Korea’s first victim of Japan’s past imperialism, and that Dokdo was recovered following Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II in 1945.

The rejection of Japan’s proposal came a day after the upper house of Japan’s bicameral Diet passed a resolution calling on Korea to withdraw the “illegal” occupation of the islets, which it calls “Takeshima.” Its lower court adopted a separate resolution last Friday that condemned Lee for his visit to Dokdo and call for the emperor’s apology.

Observers say the Tokyo government may take the litigation process although the court proceedings cannot be initiated without Seoul’s consent. Korea has not accepted the court’s compulsory jurisdiction.

Should Tokyo file a suit with the ICJ, the court is to notify Seoul of the fact. But Seoul does not need to explain why it will not respond to the call for litigation.

Even if the litigation process cannot move forward, observers say that Japan may utilize the process itself to claim that Seoul is not confident in its argument concerning the sovereignty issue.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to continue his tough stance on the territorial spat amid mounting political pressure ahead of parliamentary polls expected as early as in October.

On Wednesday, the upper house of the Diet adopted a censure motion against Noda in protest of his failure to keep a promise to hold the elections soon and his Democratic Party of Japan having unilaterally passed a set of bills at the Diet’s lower house.

He was the third prime minister against whom a censure motion was adopted. The motion is not legally binding, but dealt a political blow to the embattled Noda. The two former prime ministers censured at the legislature stepped down within three months.

As Noda comes under more political pressure, he would make more efforts not to seem soft on a range of territorial and historical issues that have strained ties with neighboring states such as Korea and China, analysts said.

On Monday, Noda claimed that there was no evidence that Japan forcibly mobilized Korean women for sexual enslavement during World War II. He has also said that his government will sternly deal with its territorial issues.

Some observers said that the diplomatic tension over Dokdo may not sharply escalate for the time being since preparing for litigation would take at least several months.

Seoul also appears to be attempting to maintain composure. But efforts to gain international support over the spat are expected to continue with both sides apparently moving to drum up international support for their claims through the media and other means.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)