Overview

• Japan’s 2025 defense white paper referred to Dokdo as Takeshima for the 21st consecutive year, describing the islets as part of Japanese territory.
• For the first time, a printed children’s edition of the white paper asserting sovereignty was distributed to elementary schools.
• South Korea’s foreign ministry summoned Japanese embassy acting minister Yoshiyasu Iseki and its defense ministry summoned attaché Inoue Hirofumi to lodge formal protests.
• On July 17, South Korea’s navy and coast guard held regular defense drills near Dokdo, marking the first such exercise under President Lee Jae Myung’s administration.
• A small South Korean police detachment continues to enforce de facto control of Dokdo amid ongoing diplomatic and military tensions.