Newly disclosed U.S. military records reinforce Korean sovereignty over Dokdo

U.S. military records supporting Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo were unveiled Tuesday, along with newly uncovered Korean government documents.

The Northeast Asian History Foundation unveiled the records during a donation ceremony held Tuesday at the Dokdo Museum Seoul in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul. 

One of the donated documents is a report by the U.S. Far East Air Forces (FEAF) in September 1948 that detailed the Dokdo bombing incident, during which U.S. Air Force B-29 bombers mistakenly bombed the islets during a training exercise on June 8 that year. Twenty-three Korean fishermen were killed or injured.

The report states the bombing occurred because subordinate units mistakenly identified Dokdo, referred to as Liancourt Rocks, as an insular part of Japan "although definitely established in September 1947 that Liancourt Rocks was a part of Korea." The report further held military authorities responsible for those failures.

The materials were donated by Jeon Gab-seang, a research professor at Sungkonghoe University's Institute for East Asian Studies. Jeon collected the records from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) after more than two years of research while studying the early Cold War period surrounding Korea's liberation. The documents are considered especially reliable because they were internal U.S. military records rather than materials produced to be made public.

Primary historical sources directly demonstrating Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo between 1945 and 1948 have long been scarce.

"This document is decisive evidence showing that U.S. military authorities clearly recognized Dokdo as Korean territory after liberation," the history foundation said.

The foundation added that the report is consistent with Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers' Instructions (Scapin) No. 677, a directive that defined Dokdo as Korean territory, as well as with the direction of early U.S. drafts of the postwar peace treaty with Japan.

Also uncovered were Korean government documents from the period immediately following liberation that had been preserved at the U.S. NARA.

The documents include a 1946 report in which the magistrate of Ulleung Island informed the governor of North Gyeongsang that Dokdo fell under Ulleung Island's jurisdiction and requested that the U.S. military government negotiate with Japan and officially announce the matter. The collection also includes a a question-and-answer document about the sovereignty of Dokdo, submitted to the U.S. military's legal officer.

Another document is a written statement by Ulleung Island resident Hong Jae-hyun, which details his experience harvesting seaweed and sea lions on Dokdo beginning in 1903. Another recounts how then-Ulleung County magistrate Sim Heung-taek protested Japan's encroachment on the island in 1906.

"The fact that these documents produced in Korea were preserved at the U.S. NARA itself enhances their credibility," a foundation spokesperson said. "This discovery provides valuable evidence showing both Korea's and the United States' views on Dokdo's sovereignty immediately after liberation."

Key documents will be made available to the public at the Dokdo Museum Seoul.

BY KO SEUNG-PYO [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]