1. The Government of the Republic of Korea strongly protests against the Japanese government’s reiteration of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo, which is clearly an integral part of the ROK territory in terms of history, geography and international law, in the Japanese Foreign Minister’s foreign policy speech at the National Diet of Japan on January 23. The ROK government urges the Japanese government to withdraw such claims immediately.

o The Japanese government should be clearly aware that repeatedly making unjust claims over Dokdo is in no way conducive to the efforts to establish a future-oriented relationship between the ROK and Japan.

2. The ROK government makes it clear once again that the Japanese government’s unjust claims do not and will not have any impact on the ROK’s sovereignty over Dokdo, an integral part of the ROK territory, and that it will respond firmly to any provocation over Dokdo.

3. Regarding the “Sado Island Gold Mines,” the ROK government again urges Japan to first implement the follow-up measures that it pledged when the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution” were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015, as well as the World Heritage Committee’s repeated decisions at an early date.