A British government map produced in March 1951 for Allied Command. Japanese territory is inside the solid line. While the Dokdo and Ulleung islands are marked with their Japanese names of Takeshima and Utsuryoshima, they lie outside the line and are thus Korean territory. Plan to Make Dokdo Stamps Riles Japanese Old French Map Found that Labels Dokdo as Korean U.S. Proposed Joint Korea-Japan Lighthouse on Dokdo in 1965 Japan Twice Admitted Korean Sovereignty Over Dokdo

Mokpo National University Professor Chung Byeong-jun said Sunday the map was found in the dossier on the treaty of principal U.S. negotiator John Foster Dulles, held by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. The map, which measures 82 cm by 69 cm, was produced by the British Foreign Office Research Bureau in March 1951 and sent to the U.S. government.

Allied Command in a memorandum to the Japanese government in January 1946 designated Ulleung and Dokdo islands Korean territory. When problems arose over continued Japanese fishing in the waters near Dokdo, the islets were confirmed as Korean territory by the MacArthur Line drawn in June 1946, which barred Japan from fishing nearby.

Tokyo claims the cluster of tiny uninhabited islands as its own saying no specific mention was made of the Dokdo islets in the San Francisco Peace treaty - unlike Jeju, Ulleung and Geomun islands, which were clearly defined as Korean territory.

Chung also released papers showing how the Japanese lobbied for the Dokdo and Ulleung islands to be included as Japanese territory, including an English language pamphlet distributed to Allied nations in 1946 entitled, “Minor Islands Adjacent Japan Proper.”

(englishnews@chosun.com )