The title to Dokdo/Takeshima: addressing the legacy of World War II territorial settlements/finding the right settlement of dispute mechanism

The seas of South East Asia present a succinct backdrop against which several current disputes are being played out. At stake are the maritime boundaries of China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. In seeking to delimit such international maritime boundaries, vital questions are being asked concerning sovereignty over islands, reefs and islets, and the value that can be ascribed to these following the determination of sovereignty. This paper seeks to examine one such dispute, between South Korea and Japan, concerning contested sovereignty over two traditionally uninhabited islets that lie in the sea between the two countries, namely the islets of Dokdo (Korean name)/Takeshima (Japanese), also known as Liancourt Rocks (English terminology).