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The Politics of the Dokdo Issue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Sung-jae Choi
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Abstract

The Dokdo issue has constituted a popular area of academic enquiry in both Korea and Japan, but few studies have extended their research parameters beyond the question of who is the rightful owner of this island. Whatever the legal merits of competing claims to Dokdo, the Dokdo issue has expanded to represent an important political focus in the domestic affairs of both states, and it remains an omnipresent irritant in Korea-Japan relations. A full understanding of this complex issue cannot be gained simply through legal and historical argument. With the aim of overcoming these existing inadequacies in the academic coverage of Dokdo, this article attempts to identify the dynamics in which extralegal and extrahistorical factors have interacted and complicated this contentious issue.

Keywords

Dokdochanges in domestic environmentsactivation of nongovernmental actorspoliticization of the issuediplomatic row
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , December 2005 , pp. 465 - 494
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

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References

Notes

This article should not necessarily be considered as representing or reflecting the official position of the PRECOTH.Google Scholar

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