북한 노동신문의 독도기사 (1948~2008년) 현황 분석:북일관계 및 한일관계 상관성을 중심으로

Abstract

This study analyzes 141 news articles on Dokdo Island which had been on a North Korean Newspaper, Rodong Sinmun up until 2008 since the day of DPRK’s establishment in the lights of the interrelationship between DPRK-Japan and ROK-Japan relationships. It is divided into the following three time periods: The first period is the 1960s, the period that the Dokdo dispute first began appearing on Rodong Shinmun by the time of “the 1965 Treaty of Basic Relations between South Korea and Japan.” It characterizes North Korea’s containing tactics and blames against Korea-Japan reconciliation moves. There was little mention of the Dokdo issue on the North Korea’s state-run newspaper during the second period - the 1970s to the late 1990s - reflecting the North’s political consideration on its conciliatory attempts towards Japan. After the late 1990s, categorized as the third period, there was a significant increase in the North Korea’s top newspaper articles regarding the Dokdo dispute in the wake of the intentional mention of Japan’s territorial claims to Dokdo in Diplomatic Bluebook of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Japanese National Defense White Paper of the Japanese Defense Agency, and the Japanese education guidelines. An ordinance establishing “Jukdo Day” approved by the Shimane Prefecture Assembly also greatly stimulated the hands of North Korean Journalists. Puting in order issuewise, the number one subject is 35 blame articles against the Japanese imperialistic ambition to Dokdo island, which accounts for a fourth of the total articles. The second most talked-about issue is the mention of Japan’s territorial claims to Dokdo in Japanese textbooks, which amounts to 22 articles, etc.The comprehensive analysis of this study in the context of the interrelationship between DPRK-Japan and ROK-Japan relationships suggests that North Korea has thus far been using the Dokdo issue to its political and diplomatic advantage as hindering ROK-US-Japan partnership by instigating anti-Japan sentiment in Korea, blaming South Korean officials for their incompetence and corruption, alienating the Korean government and people, and holding back the cooperation between South Korea and its allies.