1. The government of the Republic of Korea strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated inclusion of unjust claims over Dokdo, an integral part of the ROK’s territory, in the “Defense of Japan 2018” released on August 28, and urges the Japanese government to immediately withdraw such claims.

2. The Japanese government should be aware that repeatedly making unjust and preposterous claims over Dokdo is in no way conducive to the efforts to establish a future-oriented ROK-Japan relationship.

3. The ROK government makes it clear once again that the Japanese government’s unjust claims over Dokdo cannot have any impact on the ROK’s sovereignty over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK’s territory in terms of history, geography and international law. The ROK government will continue to respond sternly to any Japanese provocations over Dokdo.

* unofficial translation