The United States refused South Korea’s request dated July 19, 1951 to amend the draft of the San Francisco Peace Treaty to include Takeshima as part of South Korea. United States Assistant Secretary of State Dean Rusk responded on behalf of the U.S. Secretary of State in a correspondence dated August 10, 1951. In this letter Assistant Secretary Rusk stated,

“ …the United States Government regrets that it is unable to concur in this proposed amendment…As regards the island of Dokdo, otherwise known as Takeshima or Liancourt Rocks, this normally uninhabited rock formation was according to our information never treated as part of Korea and, since about 1905, has been under the jurisdiction of the Oki Islands Branch Office of Shimane Prefecture of Japan. The island does not appear ever before to have been claimed by Korea.” (Ref. 1)

Ref. 1: Official documents of the Secretary of State (Assistant Secretary as proxy) addressed to the South Korean Ambassador. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA RG59. Lot54 D423 JAPANESE PEACE TREATY FILES OF JOHN FOSTER DULLES, Box 8, Korea, (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan homepage)