Takeshima (Dokdo) Island is Japanese territory,
no matter “the upheaval of heaven and earth”
Moteki Hiromichi, Director of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact

It has been reported that, at a news conference on April 1, South Korean President
Lee Myong-bak stated that, “Even if there were an upheaval of heaven and earth, that
won’t change the fact that Dokdo (Korean name for Takeshima Island) is our land.”South Korea’s territorial claim over the Takeshima islets is rooted in passages found inthe Samguk Sagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Silla, andBaekje), a compilation completed in 1145. It is stated in the Samguk Sagi that Usando,
located near Korea's Ulleungdo Island, is the territory of Silla. South Korea claims it has
been Korean territory from as early as 400AD. However, according to ancient maps,
Usando lies east of Ulleungdo. (See exhibit 1) Thus, Usando cannot be the Takeshima
islets because they are located about ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo
There were no islands mentioned lying more than 90 km beyond Ulleungdo in mapsof the Joseon Dynasty. What’s more, in the 1889 edition of a Korean geography bookcalled Daehanjiji, there were no islands shown east of Ulleungdo. It makes sense.
People were prohibited from living on Ulleungdo as a policy of the dynasty. Further, thedynasty had no interest in or concern about Takeshima, as it was even farther away thanUlleungdo. In Japan, on the other hand, the Tokugawa Shogunate gave permission to theOya and Murakami families to travel to Ulleungdo for fishing, hunting seal, andharvesting bamboo and other woods.
As the Japanese circumstance is a verifiable historical fact, and South Korea’sassertion has no actual basis, on September 25, 1954, the Japanese government proposed
to submit the dispute to International Court of Justice for arbitration. However, SouthKorea declined to participate. If, as has been stated, “there were an upheaval of heavenand earth, that won’t change the fact that Dokdo is our land”, then we wonder why thedispute cannot be openly decided in a competent court.
In fact, just before Japanese territories were to be decided upon at the San Francisco
Peace Conference, South Korea made a formal request to the U.S. to include Takeshima(Dokdo) in territories to be renounced by Japan. In response, U.S. Assistant Secretary ofState Dean Rusk provided the following explanation in his responding document sent toYang You Chan, then-South Korean ambassador to the U.S. on August 10, 1951.
“As regards the island of Dokdo, otherwise known as Takeshima or Liancourt
Rocks, this normally uninhabited rock formation was, according to our information,never treated as part of Korea and, since about 1905, has been under the jurisdiction ofthe Oki Islands Branch Office of Shimane Prefecture, Japan. The island does notappear ever before to have been claimed by Korea.”(See exhibit 2)

Feeling pressured in such a circumstance, three months prior to the effective date of
the Treaty of San Francisco on April 28, 1952, South Korea rushed to forcefully establish
the Syngman Rhee line on January 18, 1952 and incorporate Takeshima as part of South
Korean territory. It is an undeniable historical fact that “even if there were an upheavalof heaven and earth.”
April 27, 2011

<Attachment>
Exhibit 1: 1710 Korean Map of Gangwon Province
Exhibit 2: Rusk’s Reply To Yang

Exhibit 1.

1710 Korean Map of Gangwon Province

The above map shows Usando (于山島) to the west of Ulleungdo （鬱陵島）.
On the red line is written “Two days travel time by boat.” There leaves little doubt thatthe two days travel time refers to both Usando and Ulleungdo from the port of Uljin （蔚珍）. Takeshima (Dokdo) lies 92 km south east of Ullgeungdo. So it takes another day
travel time. It means that the map producer had no idea on the island which was 92 kmfar away from Ulleungdo.
Source: http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=319

Exhibit 2. Rusk’s Reply to Yang