Japan said to give up claim to Dokdo in high school guidebook

By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Yonhap) -- The Japanese government has decided not to include any
territorial description of Dokdo, the easternmost South Korean islets, in a high
school teachers' guidebook scheduled for revision early next year, a diplomatic
source in Seoul said Wednesday.
The alleged decision apparently reflects Tokyo's intention not to strain the
South Korean-Japanese relationship amid growing signs of its normalization, said
the source.
"Japan's Education Ministry is moving to revise the current guidebook for its
high school teachers for the first time in 10 years. But the new educational
document due to be released next Tuesday will not contain any territorial claim
to Dokdo," said the source on condition of anonymity.
Bilateral relations hit their recent lowest ebb in July, when Japan's Education
Ministry released an educational document for middle school teachers that
describes the South Korean islets in the East Sea as part of Japanese territory.
Since Taro Aso's inauguration as Japanese prime minister in late September,
however, the two governments have attempted to normalize bilateral ties through
the resumption of summit talks, foreign currency swap deals and brisk personnel
and cultural exchanges.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Aso have agreed to resume bilateral
shuttle diplomacy and pursue a "mature partnership" between their countries
through several rounds of summit talks thus far.
Another diplomatic official in Seoul, however, cautioned that the possibility of
the Japanese territorial claim to Dokdo being inserted into other high school
educational materials cannot be completely ruled out.
"Contents of a high school teacher's guidebook will be finalized at Japan's
Cabinet meeting. But (they) can be unilaterally determined by the Education
Ministry, leaving open the possibility of Dokdo-related description being
included in some textbook manuals," said the official.
Dokdo lies just 90 kilometers east of South Korea's Ulleung Island in the East
Sea, while the closest Japanese territory of Oki Island in Shimane Prefecture is
more than 160 kilometers away.
Since 1954, the South Korean Coast Guard has stationed a small contingent on
Dokdo as a symbol of Seoul's ownership of the rocky islets.
ycm@yna.co.kr
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