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 20, 1877, the Japanese Supreme Council Daijō-kan issued an order stating that Ulleungdo (then called "Takeshima 竹島", now called Matsushima 松島 by Japan) and another island (外一島) are not under Japanese rule . Korea states that "another island" (外一島) besides Ulleungdo refers to Liancourt Rocks and considers this order as an evidence that Liancourt Rocks was under the control of Korea. The Japanese government has not made any comment on this point whereas some Japanese consider that "another island" (外一島) does not refer to Liancourt Rocks. On October 25, 1900, Korea issued Imperial Decree No. 41, which included the following