- 29 Mar 2018 05:42
#14900835
THE ROLE OF GEOGRAPHICAL MAPS IN TERRITORIAL DISPUTES
BETWEEN JAPAN AND KOREA
The disputed area is a group of islands situated between Japan and Korea. Both countries claim ownership of this small group of volcanic islands (total area 0.2 square kilometers) located in the Sea of Japan (Japanese name) or in the East Sea (Korean name). This group, situated 215 kilometers from Korea and 250 kilometers from Japan, contains two large islands and around 30 small islets. The region is abundant in fish and apparently has natural gas reserves as well. Today the islands are under Korean rule and constitute the last territory remaining in dispute between Korea and Japan since the peace treaties signed at the end of World War II.
The two countries' conflicting claims of territorial ownership of the islands find expression in three areas: contrasting interpretations of historical facts regarding ancient historical ownership of the islands; contrasting interpretations regarding the legality of Japan's annexation of the islands during its war with Russia in 1905; and contrasting interpretations of the peace treaty signed between Japan and Korea in San Francisco in 1951.
Both countries claim long-lasting historical ties to the islands. Both corroborate their major claims through a variety of documents and historical maps. Moreover, each country attempts to undermine the historical claims of its opponent.
The Japanese base their territorial claims on documents dating back to the 17th century showing that the islands were part of Japanese territory and were used for fishing and as hunting grounds for sea lions. From the cartographic perspective, Japan offers a variety of historical maps to prove its ownership of the islands. The oldest such map, drawn by Japanese cartographer Nagakugo Sekisui, dates back to 1779. Japan claims that the Japanese government reaffirmed its sovereignty at the beginning of the 19th century and subsequently when Japan re-annexed the islands to the Empire in 1905. Therefore, according to Japan, Korea's annexation of the islands in 1952 violates international law because the islands are not included in the territory returned to Korea according to the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco.
The Koreans base their historical claims on documents dating back to the sixth century CE, on maps describing the borders of Japan in 1667 and on a wide range of maps, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. Korea demands international recognition of its sovereignty over the islands since it gained political independence in 1945. For Korea, the Dokdo/Takeshima conflict can only be understood from the perspective of its experience as a Japanese colony. Japan formally annexed the Dokdo/Takeshima islets in February 1905, five years before Korea was effectively forced to surrender its entire territorial sovereignty to Japanese colonial control. The period of Japanese rule lasted 35 years, from 1910 to 1945, when Japan surrendered after World War II. Korea questions the legality of Japan's annexation of the islands during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, stressing that Japan's ownership claims derives from a continued tradition of Japanese colonialism and imperialism.
In 1952, Syngman Rhee, president of South Korea, unilaterally decided to extend Korea's territorial waters and its economic borders. The new border, marked on the maps as the Syngman Rhee Line, in effect annexed the chain of islands to Korea. This boundary line gave rise to the current territorial dispute between the two countries, which after 65 years only appears to be getting stronger.
Several times since 1954 Japan has asked to bring up this territorial dispute for discussion in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but Korea has consistently refused. The official Korean position is that there is no dispute about the islands since they are an integral part of Korean territory both for geographical and historical reasons and by international law. Over the years, Korea has taken a number of steps intended to increase its effective control over the islands. It stationed security forces there, built a lighthouse and a pier, issued stamps with a map of the islands, registered residents as Korean citizens, built a museum and developed tourism to the islands.
In response to these Korean actions, in 2005 Japan began celebrating Takeshima Day to mark Japan's 1905 annexation of the islands. Textbooks are also a weapon the propaganda war between the countries. In April 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Education issued a directive mandating the development of new geography and history curricula by 2016 to expand and underline claims that the islands are an integral part of Japanese territory. This directive immediately aroused sharp protests and anti-Japanese demonstrations in Korea.
As noted, in recent years digital maps have also become a new field of battle between these two countries. The conflict focuses primarily on how the islands are labeled on maps. Mappers' choice of which name to use for the islands reinforces or weakens the parties' claims of territorial ownership. Maps are seen as perceptual and educational weapons in the territorial claims of each of the parties to the conflict. As such, they are intended to influence worldwide public opinion regarding the territorial dispute. Hence, the foreign ministries and activists in both countries are engaged in mutual attacks regarding the naming of the islands on maps. As noted, Today Google is the world's largest provider of online maps, and Google's decision to label a place with a particular name is seen as siding with one party to the conflict. Google claims that it strives for neutrality and has recently developed a creative solution: the names of the islands that the citizens of each country see on the maps are in line with their geopolitical perspective. Thus in the case of the territorial dispute between Korea and Japan, Korean citizens see the Korean name Dokdo on Google Maps, while Japanese citizens see the Japanese name Takeshima. In contrast, those who open the international site for Google maps see the name Liancourt Rocks. This name is ostensibly neutral because French whalers gave it to the islands in 1849 and therefore it does suggest the territorial ownership of either of the disputing countries. Both countries object to Google's creative solution and its attempt to remain neutral in the dispute, claiming that the name on the map must represent the sovereignty over the islands.
Unlike Google Maps, Microsoft's search engine Bing Maps attempts to overcome the dispute and maintain neutrality by labeling the islands with all three names.
The Japanese government's dissatisfaction with how Google labeled the place names on its maps led it to officially ask local government authorities and universities to stop using Google Maps and to use only maps produced by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan on which the names were compatible with Japanese Foreign Ministry policy. The Japanese Ministry of Education also warned teachers not to use unauthorized study materials, among them maps that labeled disputed territories with names that are not Japanese.
The government of South Korea sharply protested against the Apple Corporation for labeling the islands on its iPhone maps using both the Korean and the Japanese names. It also launched an extensive public campaign against Google, which decided in 2012 to replace the Korean name Dokdo on its American portal with the name Laincourt Rocks. In 2012, diplomatic tensions between the two countries worsened when the president of South Korea visited the islands. This first visit of a South Korean president to the islands underscored the country's increasingly nationalistic trends. Some claim that this visit was primarily to boost the president's popularity before the elections. A document prepared by the United States Department of Defense claims that the visit was also a Korean protest against Japan's unwillingness to take responsibility and pay reparations for using Korean women as comfort women prior to and during World War II. In response to this visit, Japan recalled its ambassador from Seoul.
Korean Airlines has also taken an active role in the national effort to represent the Korean narrative to the dispute, using maps to reinforce the national ethos and create a perceptual map of the political space. On flights from Seoul to Tokyo, the airline makes sure to show the disputed islands on the flight map using the Korean name (Dokdo), even though they are insignificant based on their physical size.
BETWEEN JAPAN AND KOREA
The disputed area is a group of islands situated between Japan and Korea. Both countries claim ownership of this small group of volcanic islands (total area 0.2 square kilometers) located in the Sea of Japan (Japanese name) or in the East Sea (Korean name). This group, situated 215 kilometers from Korea and 250 kilometers from Japan, contains two large islands and around 30 small islets. The region is abundant in fish and apparently has natural gas reserves as well. Today the islands are under Korean rule and constitute the last territory remaining in dispute between Korea and Japan since the peace treaties signed at the end of World War II.
The two countries' conflicting claims of territorial ownership of the islands find expression in three areas: contrasting interpretations of historical facts regarding ancient historical ownership of the islands; contrasting interpretations regarding the legality of Japan's annexation of the islands during its war with Russia in 1905; and contrasting interpretations of the peace treaty signed between Japan and Korea in San Francisco in 1951.
Both countries claim long-lasting historical ties to the islands. Both corroborate their major claims through a variety of documents and historical maps. Moreover, each country attempts to undermine the historical claims of its opponent.
The Japanese base their territorial claims on documents dating back to the 17th century showing that the islands were part of Japanese territory and were used for fishing and as hunting grounds for sea lions. From the cartographic perspective, Japan offers a variety of historical maps to prove its ownership of the islands. The oldest such map, drawn by Japanese cartographer Nagakugo Sekisui, dates back to 1779. Japan claims that the Japanese government reaffirmed its sovereignty at the beginning of the 19th century and subsequently when Japan re-annexed the islands to the Empire in 1905. Therefore, according to Japan, Korea's annexation of the islands in 1952 violates international law because the islands are not included in the territory returned to Korea according to the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco.
The Koreans base their historical claims on documents dating back to the sixth century CE, on maps describing the borders of Japan in 1667 and on a wide range of maps, mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. Korea demands international recognition of its sovereignty over the islands since it gained political independence in 1945. For Korea, the Dokdo/Takeshima conflict can only be understood from the perspective of its experience as a Japanese colony. Japan formally annexed the Dokdo/Takeshima islets in February 1905, five years before Korea was effectively forced to surrender its entire territorial sovereignty to Japanese colonial control. The period of Japanese rule lasted 35 years, from 1910 to 1945, when Japan surrendered after World War II. Korea questions the legality of Japan's annexation of the islands during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, stressing that Japan's ownership claims derives from a continued tradition of Japanese colonialism and imperialism.
In 1952, Syngman Rhee, president of South Korea, unilaterally decided to extend Korea's territorial waters and its economic borders. The new border, marked on the maps as the Syngman Rhee Line, in effect annexed the chain of islands to Korea. This boundary line gave rise to the current territorial dispute between the two countries, which after 65 years only appears to be getting stronger.
Several times since 1954 Japan has asked to bring up this territorial dispute for discussion in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but Korea has consistently refused. The official Korean position is that there is no dispute about the islands since they are an integral part of Korean territory both for geographical and historical reasons and by international law. Over the years, Korea has taken a number of steps intended to increase its effective control over the islands. It stationed security forces there, built a lighthouse and a pier, issued stamps with a map of the islands, registered residents as Korean citizens, built a museum and developed tourism to the islands.
In response to these Korean actions, in 2005 Japan began celebrating Takeshima Day to mark Japan's 1905 annexation of the islands. Textbooks are also a weapon the propaganda war between the countries. In April 2014, the Japanese Ministry of Education issued a directive mandating the development of new geography and history curricula by 2016 to expand and underline claims that the islands are an integral part of Japanese territory. This directive immediately aroused sharp protests and anti-Japanese demonstrations in Korea.
As noted, in recent years digital maps have also become a new field of battle between these two countries. The conflict focuses primarily on how the islands are labeled on maps. Mappers' choice of which name to use for the islands reinforces or weakens the parties' claims of territorial ownership. Maps are seen as perceptual and educational weapons in the territorial claims of each of the parties to the conflict. As such, they are intended to influence worldwide public opinion regarding the territorial dispute. Hence, the foreign ministries and activists in both countries are engaged in mutual attacks regarding the naming of the islands on maps. As noted, Today Google is the world's largest provider of online maps, and Google's decision to label a place with a particular name is seen as siding with one party to the conflict. Google claims that it strives for neutrality and has recently developed a creative solution: the names of the islands that the citizens of each country see on the maps are in line with their geopolitical perspective. Thus in the case of the territorial dispute between Korea and Japan, Korean citizens see the Korean name Dokdo on Google Maps, while Japanese citizens see the Japanese name Takeshima. In contrast, those who open the international site for Google maps see the name Liancourt Rocks. This name is ostensibly neutral because French whalers gave it to the islands in 1849 and therefore it does suggest the territorial ownership of either of the disputing countries. Both countries object to Google's creative solution and its attempt to remain neutral in the dispute, claiming that the name on the map must represent the sovereignty over the islands.
Unlike Google Maps, Microsoft's search engine Bing Maps attempts to overcome the dispute and maintain neutrality by labeling the islands with all three names.
The Japanese government's dissatisfaction with how Google labeled the place names on its maps led it to officially ask local government authorities and universities to stop using Google Maps and to use only maps produced by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan on which the names were compatible with Japanese Foreign Ministry policy. The Japanese Ministry of Education also warned teachers not to use unauthorized study materials, among them maps that labeled disputed territories with names that are not Japanese.
The government of South Korea sharply protested against the Apple Corporation for labeling the islands on its iPhone maps using both the Korean and the Japanese names. It also launched an extensive public campaign against Google, which decided in 2012 to replace the Korean name Dokdo on its American portal with the name Laincourt Rocks. In 2012, diplomatic tensions between the two countries worsened when the president of South Korea visited the islands. This first visit of a South Korean president to the islands underscored the country's increasingly nationalistic trends. Some claim that this visit was primarily to boost the president's popularity before the elections. A document prepared by the United States Department of Defense claims that the visit was also a Korean protest against Japan's unwillingness to take responsibility and pay reparations for using Korean women as comfort women prior to and during World War II. In response to this visit, Japan recalled its ambassador from Seoul.
Korean Airlines has also taken an active role in the national effort to represent the Korean narrative to the dispute, using maps to reinforce the national ethos and create a perceptual map of the political space. On flights from Seoul to Tokyo, the airline makes sure to show the disputed islands on the flight map using the Korean name (Dokdo), even though they are insignificant based on their physical size.
- By wat0n
- By Tainari88