Liancourt Rocks dispute Japan. In 1954, Japan proposed a reference to the International Court of Justice, which South Korea rejected, believing that the Liancourt Rocks are irrefutably South Korean territories, and thus should not be dealt through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement between South Korea and Japan. There are conflicting interpretations about the historical state of sovereignty over the islets. Korean claims are partly based on references to a Korean island called "Usan-do" in various historical records, maps and encyclopedias such as the "Samguk Sagi", "Annals of the Joseon Dynasty", "Dongguk Yeoji Seungnam" (), and "Dongguk munheon bigo" (). According to the Korean
Liancourt Rocks dispute bombers from Kadena, Okinawa, flew over Liancourt Rocks in a bombing exercise dropping seventy-six bombs causing civilian casualties. The South Korean government announced 16 civilians were killed by the US military drill, higher estimates run up to twenty times that figure, i.e. 320. One researcher estimates damages somewhere between 30 and 80 fishing boats and civilian deaths between 30 and 100. On August 10, 1951, a secret correspondence currently known as the Rusk documents was sent to South Korea communicating the then U.S. position on issues of territorial sovereignty in the Peace Treaty explaining why the US believed Liancourt Rocks