On October 28 of 1954, the Government of the Republic of Korea rejected in writing Japan’s proposal to jointly refer the matter to the International Court of Justice. Seoul argued that ‘Dokdo’ (i.e. the Korean name for Takeshima) has historically been a part of Korea and that the Japanese Government was trying to lay false claim over the island, utilizing the international judiciary as a disguise for its territorial claims. As such, Seoul asserted that Tokyo intends to conjure up a non-existent territorial claim by referring the matter to the International Court of Justice. Seoul’s note verbale also stated, “…Dokdo was the first Korean territory which had been made a victim of the Japanese aggression, Now, in view of the unreasonable but persistent claim of the Japanese Government over Dokdo, the Korean people is in serious doubt if Japan is repeating the same course of aggression.” (Ref.1)

Ref. 1: Collection of Dokdo-Related Materials (I) : The Diplomatic Correspondences (1952-76), 1977, pp.119-121 (English), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea