The Dokdo (sometimes Tokdo) or Takeshima rocks (also known as the Liancourt rocks) have been one of the major obstacles in the development of Korean-Japanese relations for decades. In 2021, the conflict made headlines when Japan released a map for its 2020 olympic games, supposedly showing the rocks as Japanese territory, which sparked outrage across South Korea. Although this small territorial dispute has been a frequent topic of public discussion in both Japan and South Korea, it is relatively unknown outside the region.

The current dispute originated in 1905, however its roots stretch back much further than that. Since 1954, the rocks have been de facto controlled by South Korea, however Japan continues to claim that this is an illegal occupation. In this video we take a closer look at the conflict: Where does it come from? How did it develop? And what drives South Korea and Japan in this dispute?
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Art Contribution:

A big thank you to Teabag for helping me in this video: Check out his Twitter below!
Twitter Link:   / elpg1576  
His Art: 5:24-7:45
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Music:

Impertinence (by Joel Cummins)
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Timestamps:

0:00​ Introduction
0:28 What is the conflict about?
1:33 Dokdo/Takeshima's economic value
3:16 Dokdo/Takeshima's strategic value
3:44 Dokdo/Takeshima's symbolic value
4:35 Early history (Korean perspective)
6:50 Early history (Japanese perspective)
7:19 First conflict over the rocks
7:59 19th century developments
8:58 Japanese control until 1945
10:18 San Francisco Peace process
11:59 South Korean control until today
13:07 Increasing importance of the conflict
15:04 Effects on South Korea and Japan
17:10 Outro
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Sources:

Bridges, Brian (1993) Japan and South Korea in the 1990s: From Antagonism to Adjustment. Aldershot: Elgar.

Bukh, Alexander (2015) Shimane Prefecture, Tokyo and the territorial dispute over Dokdo/Takeshima. In: The Pacific Review 2015, (1).

Hara, Kimie (2006) Cold War Frontiers in The Asia Pacific: Divided territories in the San Fransisco System. London: Routledge.

Koo, Min Gyo (2010) Island Disputes and Maritime Regime Building in East Asia: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Dordrecht: Springer.

Wiegand, Krista E. (2015) The South Korean-Japanese security relationship and Dokdo/Takeshima. In: The Pacific Review 2015, (3).
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#korea #japan #conflict