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 rule Liancourt Rocks in their favour. The Japanese government's Foreign Office submitted a series of documents, issued from November 1946 to June 1947, entitled "Minor Islands Adjacent to Japan Proper; Parts I-IV", of which "Part IV, Minor Islands in the Pacific, Minor Islands in the Sea of Japan" described Utsuryo-shima (Ulleungdo) and Take-shima (Dokdo, Liancourt Rocks) as Japanese territory. Many of these claims, regardless of their historical verity, and without critical historical review, were emphasised by William J. Sebald, the then political advisor for SCAP in Tokyo, which eventually had a strong formative influence on the position maintained by the