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 dispute scholars argue that Matsushima (the closer island) refers to Liancourt Rocks and Takeshima (the farther island) refers to Ulleungdo. On the other hand Korean scholars argue that a closer look reveals the grants were given to permit them to travel abroad, thus proving that fishing area was foreign territory. These grants led to a conflict with native settlers in Ulleungdo and were later revoked by Kanpaku of Japanese Tokugawa Shogunate in January 1696. In 1695 the Shogunate inquired of the Tottori clan (Tottori Prefecture today) if Takeshima (Ulleungdo) and "Matsushima" (Liancourt Rocks) were part of either Inaba or Hōki Province,