1. The Government of the Republic of Korea deems it deplorable that in the Foreign Minister’s address on foreign affairs at the Japanese parliament on January 22, the Japanese government reiterated its unjust claim to Dokdo, which had first been sacrificed in the course of the forcible colonization of the Korean Peninsula by the imperial Japan. The ROK government urges the Japanese government to immediately stop making useless claims to Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory.

2. The Government of the Republic of Korea once again makes it clear that a correct perspective of history is the basis of the ROK-Japan relations, and hopes that the Japanese government will respond positively to the ROK government’s efforts to open a new chapter in the ROK-Japan relations based on the bilateral agreement reached in late 2015 on the issue of “comfort women.”


* unofficial translation