1905 Japanese Maps Do Not Include Dokdo as Part of Shimane Prefecture

Here is the latest on the Dokdo front:

The Dokdo Foundation on Monday released four maps of Shimane Prefecture produced by Japan after the 1905 treaty that forcibly sealed Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea.

All four maps marked Oki Island, which is located 50 kilometers off the prefecture but not Dokdo.

Japan has claimed that it incorporated the Dokdo Islets into Shimane Prefecture with the prefectural notice of February 22, 1905.

The maps, however, prove that Dokdo was not marked on the maps of the prefecture even after the 1905 notice.

An official at the Dokdo Foundation said that maps showing Dokdo in the jurisdiction of the prefecture have yet to be found, not even in Japan.

Given that the maps were produced by the Japanese government, a leading newspaper and a publisher, the official suspects that the 1905 notice of Shimane Prefecture was never officially issued in Japan and must have been an instrument of propaganda to enhance its claims to Dokdo.   [KBS World Radio]