1948 U.S. files identify Dokdo as Korean

An official 1948 U.S. military document stating that Dokdo was part of Korea has been uncovered in the United States, adding weight to South Korea's rejection of Japan's longstanding claim that Seoul illegally occupied the islets after proclaiming the Syngman Rhee Line in 1952. Researchers also found what they say is the earliest known Korean government document issued after liberation explicitly asserting sovereignty over Dokdo.

The Northeast Asian History Foundation said Tuesday that the record was found in a 1948 file on the Dokdo Bombing Incident held by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The document states that "it was definitely established in September 1947 that Liancourt Rocks was a part of Korea." Liancourt Rocks is the internationally used name for Dokdo. September 1947 was also when the commander of the U.S. Far East Command authorized the islets for use as a bombing range.

● Internal report reflects U.S. position

According to the foundation, the statement appears in an attachment to a report on the Dokdo Bombing Incident prepared by the U.S. Far East Air Forces (FEAF) and forwarded to the Far East Command (FEC). The incident occurred on June 8, 1948, when bombs dropped by the FEAF's 93rd Bombardment Squadron hit waters around Dokdo, killing or leaving missing 14 Korean fishermen and injuring nine others working in the area.

The report attributes the tragedy to a failure to follow military procedures, not to any dispute over the islands' status. It says the U.S. military had already recognized Dokdo as Korean territory and required advance notification to the U.S. military command in Korea before each bombing exercise. According to the report, the Fifth Air Force failed to provide that notice, leaving Korean fishermen unaware that live bombing drills were taking place.

Hong Sung-geun, head of the Dokdo Research Office at the Northeast Asian History Foundation, said the document carries particular weight because it was an internal classified record rather than a public statement.

"It provides documentary evidence that the United States consistently regarded Dokdo as Korean territory in the years immediately following World War II," Hong said.

● Local officials pressed for formal recognition

The same file also includes a copy of an April 25, 1946, document sent by the head of Ulleung Island, then the Ulleung county chief, to the governor of North Gyeongsang Province under the title, "Confirmation of Sovereignty Over Dokdo as Part of Ulleung Island."

The document asks the U.S. military government to negotiate with Japan and publicly affirm that Dokdo belonged to Korea. It also states that "toward the end of the Korean Empire, Dokdo was confirmed as our territory, and records remain showing that the then Ulleung county chief reported concerns over possible Japanese encroachment to higher authorities." It goes on to describe Dokdo as "a treasure trove of the East Sea," rich in sea lions, seaweed and abalone.

Hong said the document demonstrates that even amid the turmoil following Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, local administrators firmly viewed Dokdo as an island under Ulleung's jurisdiction and actively sought to defend Korea's territorial sovereignty.

The collection also contains a "Question-and-Answer on Dokdo Sovereignty," submitted by the Ulleung county chief to a U.S. military legal officer on June 16, 1948, explaining the basis for Korea's claim. Another document, dated June 18, 1948, records statements by the county chief and other local officials following the Dokdo fishing boat bombing. The testimony says residents of Ulleung Island and the Gangwon coast had long relied on Dokdo as a fishing ground, dating back more than 50 years.

Researchers also uncovered a handwritten copy, made in 1946, of a 1906 report by Sim Heung-taek, the Ulleung county chief of the Korean Empire, which explicitly identifies Dokdo as "under the jurisdiction of this county." The newly found copy predates by a year the version previously known to have been preserved at the Ulleung county office in 1947. Researchers also discovered, for the first time, a copy believed to have been prepared in 1947 of a statement submitted on Aug. 20, 1947, by Ulleung resident Hong Jae-hyun to the Japanese Affairs Division of the Foreign Affairs Department under the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea, documenting Korean fishing activities around Dokdo.

● Discovery made at U.S. National Archives

The 222-page collection was discovered by Jeon Gap-saeng, a research professor at the Institute for East Asian Studies at Sungkonghoe University, while examining U.S. military records from the period surrounding the establishment of the South Korean government. He found the documents in a records room at Archives II in Maryland, part of NARA. Jeon, a Cold War historian, has conducted research at the National Archives since the late 1990s and donated digital copies of the materials to the foundation.

Speaking at a donation ceremony Tuesday at the Dokdo Museum in Times Square, Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, Jeon said the documents are especially valuable because they preserve operational reports from the bombing unit, statements from Korean survivors and reports filed by Ulleung police within a single archival file.

The Northeast Asian History Foundation described the discovery as an important historical finding that strengthens the documentary record supporting Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo during the 1945-48 period.

The newly uncovered materials include the 1948 Dokdo Bombing Incident report submitted by the U.S. Far East Air Forces, a witness statement in which the Ulleung county chief and other officials described Dokdo as a long-standing fishing ground for Koreans, and the official document titled "Confirmation of Sovereignty Over Dokdo as Part of Ulleung Island," regarded as the earliest known government record issued after liberation explicitly declaring Dokdo to be Korean territory. The documents were recently found among U.S. military investigative records on the 1948 Dokdo Bombing Incident preserved at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.


Jong-Yeob JO jjj@donga.com