Yoshitaka Shindo

The ultimate goal of right-wing Japanese lawmakers planning to visit Korea's Ulleung Island next month is to turn the Dokdo issue into an international territorial dispute and take the matter to the International Court of Justice.

Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Yoshitaka Shindo, who serves as the proxy head of the party committee handling the Dokdo issue, said in a recent lecture, "The LDP will turn the Dokdo issue and other territorial disputes into a campaign platform during the next general elections and, if elected, create a separate government organization to handle the territorial matters." He added that the Japanese Foreign Ministry has not dealt with the issue effectively.

Shindo criticized the Democratic Party-led Japanese administration by saying it "failed to deal aggressively with Korea's moves to bolster its territorial rights to Dokdo and left an impression that the Japanese public was willing to overlook the illegal occupation of the islets." He claimed, somewhat implausibly, that while Japan was hobbled due to the massive earthquake in Match, "Korea strengthened its illegal activities, including a series of visits by government ministers and taking genuine steps to build a marine research station there."