Did the South Korean government give up claims on the Dokdo islands? No, that's not true: The government still considers Dokdo, at the center of a long-standing diplomatic dispute with Japan, as an integral part of the Korean territory.
The claim originated from a video (archived here) published by @onr0228 on TikTok, on October 30, 2023, under the title: "#안보는사람없기를" or "#EveryoneMustLookAtThis" (translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff). It opened:
Looks like they'll give up Dokdo too...
If it is taken, we can take it back, but if they give it away, we cannot take it back😭
(Translation from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff).
This is how the claim looked at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Dec 18 01:50:01 2023 UTC)
The video shares a screenshot of a news report by MBC News from June 13, 2023, on the cancellation of the Gyeongsangbuk-do council meeting on Dokdo.
Dokdo (Japanese name: Takeshima) is a South Korean territory, a group of islets located in the province of Gyeongsangbuk-do. The territory is also claimed by Japan, and to defend sovereignty, the Gyongsangbuk-do provincial council has held an assembly meeting in Dokdo every four years. In 2023, the council planned a meeting in Dokdo on June 11-13. However, the 2023 meeting was held on Ulleung island, instead, an island close to Dokdo. The decision to move the location of the meeting was taken "not to damage the rapidly improving relations with Japan," according to the speaker of the legislative council.
After President Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration, the South Korean government tried to improve relations with Japan. Two major diplomatic actions have made several people in Korea regard the current government as pro-Japanese: On March 6, 2023, Yoon revealed his solution to the forced labor compensation problem, using local funds to compensate victims: A measure that was strongly opposed, not only by the victims, but also by Koreans. The government also did not oppose the Fukushima treated water discharge plan, even though Koreans had demanded diplomatic action to stop it. Recent annual surveys showed that the percentage of people thinking that relations with Japan are good has increased from previous surveys, in both countries, but the majority in both countries still see them as problematic.
The decision not to hold the council meeting on Dokdo this year was taken at a local level, and does not reflect a policy change on behalf of the South Korean government. However, the Tiktoker claims that the cancellation of the meeting on Dokdo was a first step towards giving up claims on the territory, and that the next step would be withdrawing the police forces from the base that South Korea maintains in Dokdo to guard the territory. These allegations are not supported by any detail or evidence. The official Dokdo information website run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, states that:
Dokdo is an integral part of Korean territory, historically, geographically and under international law. No territorial dispute exists regarding Dokdo, and therefore Dokdo is not a matter to be dealt with through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement.
The government of the Republic of Korea exercises Korea's irrefutable territorial sovereignty over Dokdo. The government will deal firmly and resolutely with any provocation and will continue to defend Korea's territorial integrity over Dokdo.
The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs also released a statement on July 28, 2023, to condemn the Japanese government for claiming Dokdo as Japanese territory. Japan considers sovereignty on the territory an unresolved issue, as stated in the Defense of Japan 2023, a governmental annual report on Japan's defense policy.
