A person walks by an ad for Dokdo at a ferry terminal in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, Sunday. Yonhap

Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kang Do-hyung

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has been repeatedly omitting the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo from its annual policy reports to President Yoon Suk Yeol since his inauguration in May 2022, according to a lawmaker, Monday.

Rep. Lim Mi-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said that since the Yoon administration came into power, there has been no mention of Dokdo in the ministry's policy reports to the president as well as materials for his public policy dialogue.

According to the lawmaker, under the 2017-22 liberal Moon Jae-in administration the ministry referred to Dokdo in its policy reports on 39 occasions.

Compared with past conservative governments, the ministry's reports to the Park Geun-hye administration from 2013 to 2017 made reference to Dokdo 26 times and it did so 28 times under the 2008-13 Lee Myung-bak administration, Lim added.

Rep. Lim said that Dokdo is Korea's critical maritime territory and it must be reflected through the ministry's reports to the presidential office, given that the Japanese government has made a groundless claim to the islets.

“The oceans ministry is responsible for safeguarding the country's maritime sovereignty,” she said. “Has the ministry sided with President Yoon's submissive stance toward Japan and thrown away its role to protect Dokdo?”

In response, the ministry stated its “firm belief that Dokdo is Korean territory based on historical and geological evidence and international laws.”

“We've been executing a scientific search on Dokdo and carrying out education on safety, management and promotion of the island,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Based on the country's Act on the Sustainable Use of Dokdo since 2014, we've been submitting reports regarding the policy to the National Assembly every year.”