Russia claims to occupy our land for the first time in 19 years

The Japanese government, which is in a territorial dispute with Russia, is reportedly planning to include in this year's diplomatic Blueprint that Russia is illegally occupying four islands (northern territory in Japanese name). It is the first time in 19 years since the content was deleted in 2003, and Japan, which had been conciliatory to Russia to resolve the Kuril Islands territorial dispute, is believed to be changing its response stance after the Ukrainian war.

Japan's Kyodo News Agency said on the 31st that it obtained a draft of Japan's 2022 diplomatic blueprint and reported that the northern territory was also included in the draft, saying that was also included in the draft. In its 2003 edition, Japan deleted the content that Russia illegally occupied northern territories, and also deleted the expression "Japan's own territory" in 2011.

Until the 2018 edition, the expression "the four northern islands belong to Japan" was used, but it was deleted from the 2019 edition. This reflects former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's stance to resolve the territorial dispute by improving relations with Russia. According to Kyodo News, Abe met with Putin about 20 times during his tenure from December 2012 to September 2020.

According to a draft obtained by Kyodo News, the diplomatic office stated that "it is not a situation where we can talk about the northern territories." It is also said that the Russian government should listen to international criticism and withdraw its troops from Ukraine will be included in the diplomatic petition.

The four Kuril islands are located between Sakhalin in eastern Russia and the Kamchatka Peninsula and Hokkaido in Japan, and have been effectively controlled by Russia since 1945 after Japan's defeat in World War II. Due to the territorial dispute, Japan and Russia have yet to sign a peace treaty.

In response, the two countries have been continuously negotiating to resolve territorial disputes, but Russia announced on the 22nd that it would stop negotiating a peace treaty with Japan as Japan actively participated in Western sanctions against Russia after the Ukrainian war.

Regarding the Japanese government's diplomatic petition, Kyodo News said, "It reflects the fact that the Japanese government's position on Russia has changed from a conciliatory attitude to a hostile attitude." The finalized contents of the diplomatic document are expected to be released in late April.

Date: 2022-03-01

Reporter: 신정훈