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TOKYO -- Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun said Monday Korean middle school history textbooks distorted the truth about the Dokdo islets.
In a commentary in its morning edition entitled "Historical Background to the Frictions", the paper said, "Korean state-sanctioned history books claim that Japan took the Dokdo Islets by force during the Russo-Japanese War, but Japan never exercised force in the matter, nor were there protests from Korea."
"In official Korean government materials, it is claimed that Dokdo has been thought of as Korean territory since the time of King Jijeung of the Shilla Kingdom in the sixth century," the daily said. "Yet even in Korea's 'Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms (Samguk-sagi)' there is a record of Ulleung Island, called Usanguk at the time, being conquered by the Shilla Kingdom in 512. However, it does not say whether the Dokdo Islets were part of Usanguk."
The paper repeats a claim by the Japanese government that Dokdo was under Japanese rule from the 17th century. "Both nations came to have an understanding concerning sovereignty over the Dokdo islets after fishing disputes arose in the 17th century," the article said. "The Chosun court evacuated residents from Ulleung Island to the mainland in the 15th century, leaving the island uninhabited, while in 1618, the Edo bakufu permitted two families from Tottori-han passage to Ulleung Island to fish."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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