Outline of Takeshima Issue- Proposal of Referral to the International Court of Justice

9. Proposal of Referral to the International Court of Justice

1. Since the installation of the "Syngman Rhee Line" by the ROK, Japan has been repeatedly protesting against the ROK's actions such as claims of sovereignty over Takeshima, fishing activities around Takeshima, firing against patrol vessels and the construction of structures on the island. With an intention to resolve this dispute in a peaceful manner, Japan, with a note verbale in September 1954, proposed to the ROK that the dispute over the sovereignty of Takeshima be referred to the International Court of Justice. However, the ROK rejected the proposal in October of the same year. In addition, on the occasion of the Foreign Ministerial talks in March 1962, Zentaro Kosaka, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, made a proposal to Choi Duk Shin, then Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ROK, to refer the issue to the court, but this proposal was again not accepted by the ROK. This situation remains the same until now.
2. The International Court of Justice has jurisdiction over a dispute only when the parties to the dispute have agreed to bring the case to the court. This means that, even if Japan refers the issue to the court unilaterally, the ROK has no obligation to respond to it, and that the court will not have jurisdiction until the ROK voluntarily accepts it.
3. According to the report by Ambassador Van Fleet on his visit to the ROK in 1954 (made public in 1986), though the United States considered that Takeshima was Japanese territory, it took the position that the dispute might properly be referred to the International Court of Justice. The report also mentions that though the U.S. conveyed this suggestion to the ROK, the ROK argued that "Dokdo" was part of Utsuryo Island.

• Report by Ambassador Van Fleet [PDF]

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