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| [[Image:Map of Dokdo.png|right|thumb|350px|{{#ifexist:Template:Map of Dokdo.png/credit|{{Map of Dokdo.png/credit}}<br/>|}}Coordinates: 37° 14´ N, 131° 52´ E<ref name="koreapdf">[http://www.korea.net/news/issue/attach/45_9095_1_en.pdf Part I: Profile of Dokdo]</ref>]]
| | ''This article is under consideration for '''deletion''' following an author request. The latest version is [https://en.citizendium.org/wiki?title=Dokdo_(Takeshima)&oldid=100724482 here].'' |
| '''Dokdo''' is a small group of volcanic rocks located in the Sea of Japan. South Korea administers the islets as an area of the Ulleung County, Northern Gyeongsang Province. The 56-acre (226,600 m<sup>2</sup>) formation consists of two main islands that house a lighthouse, a helicopter pad, and a small police force. Because the rocks shelter various species of fish, birds, plants, and insects, the South Korean government has designated the islets as a nature reserve and has provided environmental guidelines for the visiting tourists. The sovereignty over Dokdo has been contested by Japan over historical and legal grounds and remains one of the more serious disputes between South Korea and its former colonial ruler. Since at least 1905, the islands were called in Japanese '''Takeshima''' (竹島), meaning the "bamboo island". The Korean name has many different transliterations in English, including "Tok-do", "Dok-to", and "Tok Islets" (<span style="font-family: Batang, Serif">독도</span>), all of which equate to "rocky island". The islets have two English titles: '''Liancourt Rocks''' and '''Hornet Rocks'''. "Liancourt" has its origin in the name of the French whaling ship that first encountered and charted the islets in 1849.
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| == Geography ==
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| [[Image:Dokdo zoomin.png|left|thumb|300px|{{#ifexist:Template:Dokdo zoomin.png/credit|{{Dokdo zoomin.png/credit}}<br/>|}}A detailed map of Dokdo.]]
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| Dokdo lies in the Sea of Japan as a part of an underwater volcano that erupted repeatedly<ref name="cenozoic">{{cite web
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| | title = Geographical and Geological Features of Dokdo
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| | publisher = Truth of Dokdo
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| | url = http://www.truthofdokdo.or.kr/eng/html/story_geography1.html
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| | accessdate = 2007-09-03 }}</ref> from 4.6 to 2.5 million years ago.<ref name="nat">[http://atlas.ngii.go.kr/english/explanation/natural_1_7.jsp Volcanic Landforms], The National Atlas of Korea, retreived 2008-05-10</ref> The underwater Dokdo volcano stands 2 km high on its base with a diameter of 20 ~ 25 km and rises to a guyot<ref name-"adsabs">[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2007AGUFM.V43D1644K A study on the geophysical characteristics of the summit of the Dokdo volcano in the East Sea (Japan Sea)]</ref> summit that is 10 km wide.<ref name="click">[http://www.clickkorea.org/Dokdo/02.htm History and Culture of Dokdo Islands, Geographical understanding], hosted by the Korea Foundation</ref> The islets on top of this summit consist mostly of [[trachyte]] and [[trachyandesite]] differentiated from the parental alkali basalt magma of the underwater volcano.<ref name="kang">[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=6&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgeo.khu.ac.kr%2Fmarinesympo%2Ffiles%255C2006Program%26Papers%2F7.Kang.pdf&ei=aC44SOz_DZiQ8wSX8fDYDQ&usg=AFQjCNFr46idnhLHamsB46U15sfcIPQ8pw&sig2=gD3ptoiKZ5LgcoVSoT2Smw Gravity modeling for understanding internal structure of seamounts], Kang Mohee et al, date accessed: 2008-05-24</ref> Samples of these rocks reveal that Dokdo is the oldest existing island in Korea ([[Awaji Island]] is the oldest in Japan)<ref name="oldestjapan">{{cite conference
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| | first = Jearn
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| | title = 2003 iEARN Conference News
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| | location = Yumebutai Awaji International Conference site
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| | url = http://www.jearn.jp/2003conference/news/0721.html
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| | accessdate = 2007-09-03 }}</ref>; the second oldest island in Korea is [[Ulleungdo]],<ref name="SNU">{{cite web
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| | title = The Territorial Sovereignty over Dokdo Islets(Liancourt Rocks) and the Cairo Declaration in 1943
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| | publisher = Seoul National University
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| | url = http://plaza.snu.ac.kr/~bigbear1/m3-2-a1.htm
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| | accessdate = 2007-09-03 }}</ref> which formed 2 million years after Dokdo from the same hot spot, with similar igneous composition to Dokdo.<ref name="cenozoic"/> Due to sedimentation, the 2 islands (''Seo-do'' and ''Dong-do'' in Korean, ''Otoko-jima'' and ''Onna-jima'' in Japanese; both literally meaning ''western island'' and ''eastern island'', respectively)<ref name="EastWest">{{cite web
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| | title = Special Report: Tokdo-Takeshima Dispute
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| | publisher = Pride of Korea - Dokdo
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| | date = 2001-07-06
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| | url = http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=2&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ourdokdo.com%2Freport%2Fdokdo.doc&ei=V3_bRv-7EKXAggSbzInkCQ&usg=AFQjCNHM_57PahcL5TDUy-KdkJf_I06ciQ&sig2=Q4dexuV6Icvowqqp20g3gA
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| | accessdate = 2007-09-02 }}</ref><ref name="mofaname">[http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/takeshima/index.html The Issue of Takeshima], The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, date accessed: 2008-05-24</ref> that make up most of the island cluster above water split 2 million years ago,<ref name="cenozoic"/> and are now positioned 151 meters apart from each other.<ref name="net">Korea.net (1999–2006). [http://www.korea.net/News/Issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=5727 Dokdo: A Profile]. Retrieved [[9 January]], 2006.</ref> The western islet is steeper and larger than the eastern islet, and it is the tallest islet in the cluster.<ref name="corea">[http://www.dokdocorea.com/news-view.htm?p=2&n=5 Dokdocorea.com], date accessed: 2008-05-23</ref> 87 smaller rocks scatter around the two main islands within a radius of a few kilometers,<ref name="ngii">
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| {{cite web
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| | title = Dokdo of Korea
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| | publisher = National Geographic Information Institute
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| | url = http://www.ngii.go.kr/jsp/ngii_eng/html/main/data/data_02.html
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| | accessdate = 2007-09-02 }}</ref> and more than 30 of such geographical features have been named by the South Korean government ministries.<ref name="name">[http://www.dynamickorea.go.kr/news/issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=15428&menu_code=A Ten reefs around Dokdo to receive names], Korea.net</ref>
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| == Climate & Ecology ==
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| [[Image:Dokdo Photo.jpg|right|thumb|350px|{{#ifexist:Template:Dokdo Photo.jpg/credit|{{Dokdo Photo.jpg/credit}}<br/>|}}A photo of Dongdo (left) & Seodo (right) at sunset.]]
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| Dokdo has a moderate maritime climate created by the warm<ref name="click"/> and cold ocean currents that collide nearby the islands.<ref name="koreapdf"/> The average year-round temperature is 12°C, and the coldest and the hottest extremes occur in January (1°C) and August (23°C) respectively. The average yearly rainfall is 1,240 mm, and in the winter the islands experience a heavy snowfall. In a year, there are only about 50 clear days, more than 160 days are cloudy or foggy, and rain or snow falls on the remaining 150 days.<ref name="gov">http://www.dokdo.go.kr/</ref>
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| Dokdo's ecosystem is influenced heavily by its climate and geography. Because of the strong, salty sea winds (with an average velocity of 4.3m/s)<ref name="gov"/>, the barren soil, and the lack of fresh water, vegetation grows poorly on the islets. There were originally only a few types of plants on the islets, but many more have been transplanted to Dokdo from the mainland since the S. Korean occupation. The islands can undergo severe drought if no rain or snow falls for a while because the thin layer of soil cannot retain much water and the amount of water produced by the moss that covers the islands is very little.<ref name="koreapdf"/> However, due to its central location in the Sea of Japan, Dokdo is an important bird-breeding area and also a popular rest stop for the birds flying in the north-south direction. The [[black-tailed gull]]s that nest and breed on the islets between May and August<ref name="yahoo">[http://kr.news.yahoo.com/service/news/shellview.htm?linkid=4&articleid=2007061512000499001 독도 비상! 갈매기 1만마리 '똥폭탄' 공습], Kim Hye-mi, ''Yonhap News'', 2007-06-15, date accessed: 2008-05-27</ref> comprise the largest group of the avian populations in Dokdo.<ref name="empas">[http://news.empas.com/show.tsp/cp_kt/20060529n07424/?kw=kite%20%3Cb%3E%26%3C%2Fb%3E Dokdo Becomes Habitat for Rare Species], Kim Rahn, Korea Times, 2006-05-29, date accessed: 2008-05-27</ref> The areas around Dokdo, where the North Korean Cold Current and the Tsushima Warm Current collide, and where planktons are abundant, contain a diverse marine life including the Pacific white-sided dolphins, octopus, [[pollack]], [[saury]], [[abalone]], [[turbo]], and [[sea cucumber]].<ref name="plank">[http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503200011.html Dokdo Islets a Treasure Trove of Resources], Chosun Ilbo, 2005-03-20, date accessed: 2008-05-27</ref><ref name="click05">[http://www.clickkorea.org/Dokdo/05.htm History and Culture of Dokdo Islands, Ecological Environment] hosted by the Korea Foundation</ref> Also, in 2007 a [[coral colony]] was discovered near Dokdo for the first time in the Sea of Japan.<ref name="monument">[http://www.korea.net/News/issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=16727&menu_code=A Protection of rare species puts brighter Korean stamp on Dokdo], Korea.net, 2007-06-13, date accessed: 2008-05-27</ref> Currently, Dokdo is inhabited by 107 species of birds, 49 species of plants (of which 19 are alien species), and 93 species of insects;<ref name="enmin">[http://eng.me.go.kr/docs/news/press_view.html?seq=334&page=3&mcode= Ministry of Environment Conducts Survey on Dok-do’s Ecosystem], Press Release, 2006-06-01, date accessed: 2008-05-27</ref> and as many as 160 different species of seaweeds and 100 species of fish live in the surrounding waters.<ref name="koreapdf"/>
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| As much as the Dokdo's ecosystem is healthy and diverse, it is equally delicate and vulnerable. A study in 2006 found that the 2 mammal species that were previously reported on Dokdo, the stellar sea lions and the fur seals, have completely disappeared from the islands.<ref name="empas"/> The study also found in Dokdo 8 of the species that are endangered in Korea,<ref name="enmin"/> including the falcon, the Siberian honey buzzard, the owl, the black kite, the Japanese murrelet, and the swan. The researchers expressed concerns about the possible harms on the islands' ecosystem that the 19 alien plant species could inflict as invasive species.<ref name="empas"/>
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| The South Korean government has implemented in the past several programs and policies concerning Dokdo's environment, in order to protect the rich ecosystem and to strengthen South Korea's sovereignty over the islets.<ref name="monument"/> In 1982, the government designated Dokdo as a Natural Monument, No. 336,<ref name="monument"/> and prohibited visitors from setting foot on the islets. However, in March 2005, the government lifted the visitation ban<ref name="visitation">[http://www.korea.net/News/news/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20050330035&part=101&SearchDay= 60 travelers make first visit to Dokdo as visitation ban is lifted], Korea.net</ref> and allowed up to 70 visitors to the East Islet a day<ref name="foot">[http://www.korea.net/news/issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=12365 Admissions to Enter], Korea.net</ref> after the governing council of the Shimane Prefecture in Japan designated February 22nd as the ''Takeshima Day''.<ref name="allow">[http://www.korea.net/News/Issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=6402 Gov't ready to open wider Dokdo to tourists], Korea.net, 2005-03-17</ref> In the same month, the South Korean government expanded the limit to allow up to 140 persons on Dokdo per day,<ref name="atjapan">[http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/GC23Dh03.html Japan-South Korea ties on the rocks], Takahashi, Kosuke, ''Asia Times'', 2005-03-23</ref><ref name="chosunvisit">[http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503220011.html Gov't to Allow 140 Visitors to Dokdo A Day], ''Chosun Ilbo'', 2005-03-22</ref> which the Ministry of Environment claimed would have zero compromise on the protection of Dokdo's environment. However, the South Korean government had to follow that guarantee with a plea to the public to not violate the rules by producing noise pollution with musical instruments, straying off from the tour routes, and taking rocks as souvenirs.<ref name="damg">[http://www.korea.net/News/Issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=6753 Visitors asked not to damage Dokdo], korea.net, 2005-05-03</ref> In 2005, the Ministry of Environment also began monitoring Dokdo to prevent unfavorable developments and to assemble data for future policymaking regarding the islets.<ref name="enron">[http://eng.me.go.kr/docs/news/press_view.html?seq=287&page=8&mcode= Dokdo Island, No Problem with its Ecosystem after Loosened Regulations], Ministry of Environment Republic of Korea, 2005-06-30</ref> The Ministry of Environment announced later in 2006 that the islets' ecosystem would be monitored through biannual surveys and 4-season studies every 5 years.<ref name="enmin"/> In order to accommodate for the tourism on the islets, the government began to rebuild some of the islands' concrete facilities, which had been built carelessly without planning, with more environmentally-friendly designs.<ref name="donga1">[http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2005032488848 Dokdo Tour to be Permitted Starting from April 30], Chae-hyun, Kwon, ''Donga Ilbo'', 2005-03-23</ref><ref name="donga2">[http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2005032140678 “There Is No Takeshima,” Dokdo’s Rallying Cry], ''Donga Ilbo'', 2005-03-20, date accessed: 2008-05-29</ref> In 2007, the provincial government of North Gyeongsang launched a new project to make the areas of Dokdo into a "clean zone" by 2010.<ref name="clean">[http://www.korea.net/News/issues/issueDetailView.asp?board_no=16474&menu_code=A "Clean Zone" to embrace Dokdo"], Korea.net, 2007-05-01, date accessed: 2008-05-28</ref>
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| == Demographics ==
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| Dokdo had its first resident in May of 1968 when Chwe (or Choi) Jongdeok, a South Korean fisherman who used to make living off of the nearby waters, moved in from the island of Ulleungdo.<ref name="fisherman">[http://www.korean.net/wcms/view.jsp?bID=15733&pageID=01065263&mode=V Dokdo: Inhabitants and Visitors], Korean.net, 2005-07-05, date accessed: 2008-06-16</ref> Since then, Dokdo saw a continual presence of at least one or two fishing families, in addition to the coast guard (i.e. the police) that has been stationed there since 1954.<ref name="cg">[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=20&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dynamickorea.go.kr%2FNews%2FIssues%2FissueDetailView.asp%3Fboard_no%3D11812&ei=uD9XSMCOMZrCgQSywfj2Ag&usg=AFQjCNGGRiegmSA87Gp9bods0PNFAlUYmA&sig2=Mau3eIgESwvkjBhJwHyodQ Government protests Japan's Dokdo claim], Korea.net, 2006-03-31, date accessed: 2008-06-16</ref><ref name="fern86">Fern, 2005, pp. 86</ref> Only 2 people currently live on Dokdo,<ref name="chief">[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=3&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.korea.net%2FNews%2FIssues%2FissueDetailView.asp%3Fboard_no%3D16086%26menu_code%3DA&ei=JdZXSKi-C4bAhAS50PjZCA&usg=AFQjCNFZpy9Q0Zbn9P4Iwpz5HF6cnvVK8A&sig2=uI0iEuzSfhDRJwlnnDByIQ Dokdo resident appointed village chief], Korea.net, 2007-04-02</ref> but, in February of 2006, the South Korean government announced a plan to build a village of about 20 people on the islets.<ref name="village">[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dynamickorea.go.kr%2Fnews%2Fissues%2FissueDetailView.asp%3Fboard_no%3D15434&ei=JdZXSKi-C4bAhAS50PjZCA&usg=AFQjCNEJwmiq8qXejd6mdbYHeG8jqlhqag&sig2=38UdYdL9ElT1tOak4MV1fg Dokdo village to be formed], Korea.net, 2007-02-16, date accessed: 2008-06-17</ref>
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| == Territorial dispute with Japan ==
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| ''The following text focuses on the history of the dispute. See [[Arguments of the territorial dispute over Dokdo]] for details on the cases made by Japan and South Korea based on historical evidences and the [[international law]].''
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| === After World War II ===
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| In September 1945, a month after Japan's surrender in World War II, the Allied occupation forces placed Dokdo within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Sixth Army based in Japan. Then, in less than a year, General [[Douglas MacArthur|MacArthur]], then the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, moved the Japan-South Korea boundary eastward to make the MacArthur Line, and Dokdo was assigned to the U.S. XXIV Corps that was responsible for all of South Korea.<ref name="harvard">Koo, Min-gyo, 2005</ref> However, the MacArthur Line was only a temporary configuration of the postwar boundaries that was drawn for convenience.<ref name="hara368">Hara, 2001, pp. 368</ref>
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| === San Francisco Peace Treaty ===
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| The dispute between South Korea and Japan over the ownership of Dokdo ultimately originates from the [[San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951]], a formal agreement to the end of the Pacific War and return of national sovereignty to the occupied Japan, because the treaty failed to specify to which country Japan renounced its former territories and to which precise limit these territories extended.<ref name="hara362">Hara, 2001, pp. 362</ref> In the case of the Dokdo dispute, the main question regarding the peace treaty was whether the islands were included in the "Korea" that Japan renounced in the San Francisco treaty.<ref name="hara368"/>
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| In fact, in the earlier drafts of the treaty that were written between the late 1946 and November 1949, the US State Department specified that Japan return Dokdo to the Korean mainland. However, William J. Sebald, who was a political adviser to General MacArthur suggested in a commentary to the State Department that Dokdo be defined as a Japanese territory for historical and strategic reasons. First, Sebald thought that Japan's sovereignty over Dokdo appeared valid and that "it is difficult to regard... <nowiki>[ Dokdo ]</nowiki> as islands off the shore of Korea". Secondly, Sebald pointed out that, if Dokdo were to be a South Korean territory, the U.S. risked losing the islets as a potential station for weather and radar surveillance due to the communist threats from the North. Therefore, the December draft of the San Francisco treaty was changed to state that "Takeshima (Liancourt Rocks)... shall belong to Japan." (Chapter II, Territorial Clauses, Article 3) This shift in the U.S.'s position may have also been influenced by the Japanese Foreign Office, which in the early post-war years provided the U.S. government with several pamphlets about the Japanese territories.<ref name="hara369-71">Hara, 2001, pp. 369-371</ref>
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| Then all of a sudden, after John Foster Dulles was put in charge of the peace treaty and the Korean War precipitated, the treaty drafts from August and onwards ceased to mention "Takeshima" (as the islets were referred to) altogether. The entire treaty became shorter and simpler, and many of the specifics on the coordinates, borders, and the islands disappeared. It is likely that Dulles purposefully rewrote the treaty to open room for disputes between Japan and the other countries, and thereby provide buffer against the potential domino effect in case of communist expansion. Dulles expected that, if South Korea were not to fall in the hands of the communists, it would take the disputes with Japan to the International Court of Justice, as suggested by the treaty in Chapter 6, Article 22.<ref name="hara371-3">Hara, 2001, pp. 371-3</ref>
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| The San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed on September 8, 1951,<ref name="jpri">Johnson, 2001</ref> and it took effect on April 28, 1952.<ref name="hara374-5">Hara, 2001, pp. 374-5</ref>
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| === Proclamation of the Rhee Line ===
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| Before the Japanese government could regain national rule on April 28, 1952, the South Korean President Syngman Rhee issued on January 18 the "the Declaration of Maritime Sovereignty", which basically kept the "MacArthur Line" from expiring as a result of the peace treaty. The South Korean government realized that, without such an affirmative action on South Korea's part, Japan would eventually get the islets due to U.S.'s prioritizing Japan in its Cold War strategy; at the same time, South Korea believed that it could make a stronger case, based on historical evidences. <ref name="hara374-5"/>
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| Despite the Japanese government's protests, the "Syngman Rhee Line" was kept in place,<ref name="hara374-5"/> and the South Korean ships began seizing the Japanese fishing vessels that transgressed the line.<ref name="harvard"/> Instead of risking a war with South Korea, Japan publicized the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty's designation of Dokdo as a training ground for the U.S. military, and claimed that the U.S. recognized the islets as a Japanese territory because the U.S asked Japan rather than South Korea for permission to use the islands. However, when the U.S. Air Force gave in to South Korea's protest and excluded Dokdo from its training areas on February 27, 1953, Japanese maritime police vessels began interrogating Korean fishermen around the areas of Dokdo and even engaged in exchanges of gunfire with the South Korean volunteer forces stationed on the islets. During the month of May in 1954, South Korean and Japanese citizens under protection of patrol boats made several landings on Dokdo, and they built signs of their ownership while knocking down the works of the citizens from the other country.<ref name="van20">Van, 2004, pp. 20</ref><ref name="kajimura">Kajimura, Hideki.</ref>
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| ==Notes==
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| {{reflist|2}}
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