Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday expressed “deep regret” over Tokyo’s recent approval of school textbooks reinforcing its territorial claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.
Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology approved 31 school textbooks in the social studies category, which includes geography and history, that contain “unfair claims” over Dokdo.
The textbooks, which label Dokdo as “Japan’s sovereign territory” will be distributed for use at high schools across the country from 2026.
In response to Tokyo’s decision announced earlier in the day, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that it would not condone any sovereignty claims by Japan about Dokdo and called for the authorities to make corrections of such contents in the textbooks.
“The (South Korean) government expresses deep regret over the Japanese government's authorization of high school textbooks that distort the historical facts of the past based on the historical views solely focused on the perspective of (Japan) — and we request corrections to be made,” the ministry said in a statement.
“We strongly protest the Japanese government’s decision, yet again, to approve textbooks that contain unfair claims against Dokdo, which is part of our sovereign territory historically, geographically and under international law. We would like to make it clear that we cannot accept any of such claims from Japan against Dokdo,” it added.
The ministry further pointed out that the approved textbooks not only contain biased claims about Dokdo, but dilute the seriousness of the crimes committed by Japan during World War II, especially regarding military sex slavery and forced labor.
Dokdo has long been a recurring source of tension between South Korea and Japan, as Tokyo continues to make sovereignty claims in its policy papers, public statements and school textbooks.
South Korea has sovereignty over Dokdo and is the only country that has its police force permanently dispatched to the islets.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
