1. The government of the Republic of Korea strongly protests against the Japanese government’s repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory historically, geographically and under international law, in the “Defense of Japan 2024” released on July 12. The ROK government urges the Japanese government to immediately withdraw such claims.

2. The ROK government makes it clear once again that any claims by the Japanese government over Dokdo, an integral part of the ROK territory, do not and will not have any impact on the ROK’s sovereignty over it and that the ROK government will respond firmly to any provocation by Japan over Dokdo.

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