The strait between Dongdo and Seodo

Historically, Dokdo has been part of Korean territory since 512 (the 13th year of the reign of Silla King Jijeung), when Silla absorbed Usanguk. This fact is recorded twice in Samguksagi (The History of Three Kingdoms, 1145): Volume 4 Sillabon-gi (Silla's records) and Volume 44 Yisabujeon (The Biography of Yi Sabu). Usanguk included Ulleungdo and Usando (called Matsushima in Japan before 1880) when it was absorbed by Silla, which is recorded in a number of ancient texts including Sejongsillokjiriji (Gazetteer of the Annals of King Sejong, 1454) published in 1481; Sinjeungdonggukyeojiseungnam (Augmented Survey of the Geography of Korea) published in 1530; Man-giyoram (Guidebook of State Affairs, 1808); and Jeungbomunheonbigo (The Augmented Reference Compilation of Documents, 1908).

After Japan plundered Ulleungdo, incurring heavy human casualties, King Taejong of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) ordered the residents of Ulleungdo be brought to the mainland in 1417, under an "empty island" policy that prohibited people from residing on the islands due to concerns for their safety. This "empty island" policy for Ulleungdo was then repealed in 1883 when King Gojong implemented a resettlement policy and allowed residents to return to the island. In 1849, the French whaler Liancourt, after observing and surveying Dokdo, named the island group after their ship, calling them the Liancourt Rocks. After this, many Western maps and geography texts identified Dokdo as the Liancourt Rock Islands.

According to the Japanese government, the first Japanese text to mention Dokdo is Onshushichogoki (Records of Observations of Onshu, 1667). However, according to this text, Dokdo (called Matsushima in Japan at that time) and Ulleungdo (called Takeshima in Japan at that time) were part of Goryeo territory, with Japan's northwestern limit being clearly delineated as Oki Island, thus confirming that Dokdo and Ulleungdo were part of Korean territory.

A Map of Three Adjoining Countries, by the distin- guished Japanese scholar Hayashi Shihei (1738-1793). (source: Dokdo Museum)

During the Edo period (or Tokugawa period ,1603-1867), Japan recognized and respected the fact that Ulleungdo and Dokdo were part of Joseon territory. For example, the distinguished Japanese scholar Hayashi Shihei (1738-1793) produced two maps, "Sangokusetsuchizu" (A Map of Three Adjoining Countries, 1785) and "Nihontaigokuchizu" (A Map of the Japan Empire), in which he identified national boundaries and territories by using different colors for each nation, yellow for Joseon and green for Japan. He placed Ulleungdo and Dokdo at their proper locations and not only colored them yellow, but also noted "Belonging to Joseon" next to the islands, clearly recognizing them as Joseon territory.

In addition, in 1876, the Department of the Interior of Japan's Meiji government ordered each prefecture to draw a map of its territory for a national geographic survey and map production initiative. At this time, the governor of Shimane Prefecture asked the Department of the Interior whether Takeshima (Ulleungdo) and Matsushima (Dokdo) should be included in the Shimane Prefecture map and geographical survey. After spending a little over five months researching materials related to Ulleungdo and Dokdo, such as documents that had been passed back and forth between Japan and Joseon at the end of the 17th century, the Japanese Department of the Interior concluded that Takeshima and Matsushima were Joseon territory and were thus "of no concern to Japan."