Seoul Seeking to Rectify CIA Factbook’s Deletion of Dokdo

The CIA World Factbook lists the Dokdo islets as the Liancourt Rocks, named after a French whaling vessel that sighted the islets in the 19th century, in a bid to avoid rows over the islets between Seoul and Tokyo.

But the recently updated factbook omitted its reference on Korea’s map while referring to the Dokdo islets as the Liancourt Rocks on Japan’s map.

Japan has laid claim to the Dokdo islets that lie closer to Seoul than Japan in the waters between the two countries, but Seoul has rejected Japan’s claim as nonsense as it regained its independence from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, including Dokdo.

Seoul’s foreign ministry said that it is making necessary efforts to talk the U.S. into restoring the reference to Dokdo as the Liancourt Rocks in the factbook.

“The Seoul government has clearly delivered its stance to the U.S. over the naming of the Dokdo islets and the East Sea,” said an official at the foreign ministry, asking not to be named.

“We are aggressively making efforts to rectify the matter by delivering our stance to the CIA and the State Department.”

Also Monday, the South Korean government slammed Japan for uploading a video on YouTube that lays claim to Dokdo in the East Sea.

The Japanese government uploaded the 17-minute video that introduces a picture book showing that Japanese went fishing in waters off the Dokdo islets in the past. The footage was made for the purpose of being used in schools.

Seoul’s foreign ministry called Japan’s move “unacceptable,” calling on Tokyo to end its territorial claim to the islets in the waters between the two countries.

“The Dokdo islets are South Korea’s own territory in terms of history, geography and international laws,” said an official at the foreign ministry, asking not to be named. “Japan should immediately end its undue claim to the islets and face up to historical facts.”

(Yonhap)