The Japanese government claimed in its 2025 defense white paper that Dokdo is its territory, repeating its unfounded claims for the 21st year. While expressing Korea as an "important neighbor", it is expected to maintain its existing stance on the Dokdo issue, leading to controversy.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense published this year's defense white paper after a Cabinet meeting on the 15th. In Chapter 1 of the white paper, titled 'Security environment in the Indo-Pacific region', Japan stated, "The territorial issues of the Northern Territories (the four Kuril Islands) and Takeshima (the name Japan claims for Dokdo) remain unresolved."
Additionally, a map titled 'Security environment around our country' included the phrase "Takeshima territorial issue" at the location of Dokdo. Since 2005, the Japanese government has included claims of sovereignty over Dokdo in its defense white paper annually.
In contrast, regarding Korea, it maintained the expression "a partner to respond to international issues and an important neighbor with whom we should cooperate" from the previous year. The white paper stated, "As the security environment around the Korean Peninsula becomes increasingly complex due to North Korea's nuclear and missile issues, terrorism, natural disasters, piracy, and maritime security, closer Japan-Korea cooperation is more important than ever."
This defense white paper characterized China's military expansion as "the largest strategic challenge unprecedented in the past," expressing concern that it poses a serious threat to Japan's security. It described North Korea as "an even more significant and imminent threat than before," stating, "It appears to have the capability to attack Japan with ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads."
Regarding Russia, it referred to instances of Russian military aircraft invading its airspace last September, evaluating that there are "strong security concerns due to ongoing military activities in the vicinity of Japan within a strategic connection with China."
Along with this, it noted the need to pay attention to the U.S. Indo-Pacific security strategy against the backdrop of President Trump's potential re-election, stating that "future developments will have a significant impact on the regional security environment."