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Lying almost equidistant between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, the tiny islets called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, are claimed by both countries and are a source of a dispute going back more than 300 years. Most recently, there was a public outcry in South Korea after the islands were marked on a map of Japan on the Tokyo Olympics website, with South Korea demanding an immediate correction and Japan refusing. To many outside Korea and Japan, these islets might seem inconsequential and hardly worth risking damage to the relations between two of the world’s most powerful economies. Yet the islets inspire fierce reactions on both sides and a solution to this long-running territorial dispute has been elusive. 

What is the history of this dispute? Which country has the more compelling historical claim? How do the islets figure in both Korean and Japanese politics, media and culture? Might the U.S. play a role in helping resolve this dispute between its two most important allies in East Asia? Can international law provide a framework for a resolution?

The Center for Korean Legal Studies at Columbia Law School welcomes Paul Huth (University of Maryland), Sunwoong Kim (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and Terence Roehrig (US Naval War College), editors of The Dokdo/Takeshima Dispute: South Korea, Japan and the Search for a Peaceful Solution for a discussion of these issues. They will be joined by contributors to the book including Yoshinori Kaseda, Hee Eun Lee, and Hyon Joo Yoo for a Q&A moderated by Center Director Jeong-Ho Roh.