Liancourt Rocks dispute Liancourt Rocks dispute The Liancourt Rocks dispute is a territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan. Both countries claim sovereignty over the Liancourt Rocks, a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan which are referred to as "Dokdo" () in Korean and in Japanese. North Korea also claims sovereignty of the islands. The Liancourt Rocks have been administered by South Korea since 1954 by the Korea Coast Guard. This action was taken after the United States stated in the Rusk documents that the Japanese claim to the Liancourt Rocks would not be renounced in their peace treaty with
Liancourt Rocks two main islets and 35 smaller rocks; the total surface area of the islets is , with the highest elevation of found at an unnamed location on the West Islet. The Liancourt Rocks lie in rich fishing grounds that may contain large deposits of natural gas. The Liancourt Rocks consist of two main islets and numerous surrounding rocks. The two main islets, called "Ojima" (男島, "Male Island") and "Mejima" (女島, "Female Island") in Japanese, and "Seodo" (, "Western Island") and "Dongdo" (, "Eastern Island") in Korean, are apart. The Western Island is the larger of the two, with a wider