Japan headed to World Court over dispute with Korea?
Last weekend, South Korea’s president took a jaunt to several rocky islands in the middle of the Sea of Japan (thanks to reader Jim Wallace for the tip). The visit to the Liancourt Rocks, which Korea controls but Japan claims, was apparently the first ever by a South Korean president. The fact that it came ...
Last weekend, South Korea's president took a jaunt to several rocky islands in the middle of the Sea of Japan (thanks to reader Jim Wallace for the tip). The visit to the Liancourt Rocks, which Korea controls but Japan claims, was apparently the first ever by a South Korean president. The fact that it came on the eve of the day celebrating Korea's independence from Japan made the foray even more dramatic.
Last weekend, South Korea’s president took a jaunt to several rocky islands in the middle of the Sea of Japan (thanks to reader Jim Wallace for the tip). The visit to the Liancourt Rocks, which Korea controls but Japan claims, was apparently the first ever by a South Korean president. The fact that it came on the eve of the day celebrating Korea’s independence from Japan made the foray even more dramatic.
Tokyo is signaling its displeasure in several ways, including by suggesting that it will ask the Hague-based International Court of Justice to resolve the territorial dispute. Via Reuters:
"Japan decided to act to peacefully solve the issue by bringing it to International Court of Justice," a spokesperson for Japan’s Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said via an e-mailed statement on Saturday.
"Having seen Republic of Korea take such an unacceptable action, we believe that letting Japan’s case on Takeshima known to the world, through ICJ, is more important than holding back, giving consideration for the whole Japan-ROK relations."The timing and content of the case will need to be worked out, but action will be taken in the "not so distant a future", he said.
The route to ICJ resolution of the dispute is not clear, however. Japan has accepted the court’s jurisdiction over any disputes it’s involved in, but South Korea has not. That means Japan would either have to secure South Korea’s consent to have the case heard or demonstrate that some relevant treaty gives the court jurisdiction.
Even assuming the dispute never finds its way to court, however, Japan’s reference to the court marks a shift in diplomatic strategy. Japan only accepted the ICJ’s jurisdiction in the late 1990s and, according to ICJ records, has been party to only one dispute (Australia initiated a suit in 2010 over whaling issues). Observers have noted that China has become increasingly willing to use the World Trade Organization’s litigation tools recently; it may be that Japan, too, is turning litigious.
David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist
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