An account of the second and third Japan–Korea talks in 1953, detailing the escalation of the Syngman Rhee Line, the shooting of Japanese fishing vessels, the stationing of Korean militia on Takeshima, and the shift toward fundamental disputes culminating in the Kubota Statement.

June 8, 2016

The following continues from the previous chapter.
All emphasis in the text other than the heading is mine.

The Second Round of Talks
The second round of talks was held from April 15 to July 23, 1953.
However, Japan–Korea relations had deteriorated immediately prior to the second round, and it is said that the direct meeting between Shigeru Yoshida and Syngman Rhee during the informal visit to Japan from January 5 to 7, 1953, was also extremely hostile.

In the second round of talks, Korea presented inventories of Korean national treasures and other items, while Japan responded that these were under investigation.
In informal talks from April to July 1953, Hirota, Head of the Second Asia Division, stated that there were various circumstances regarding how these items came to Japan, including those brought over long ago and those purchased at legitimate prices, and that it was therefore difficult to address them comprehensively.

The Shooting of Japanese Fishing Vessels by the Korean Military and the Landing on Takeshima
See “Diplomatic Negotiation History of the Takeshima Issue” and “Dokdo Volunteer Guard.”
Meanwhile, in parallel with the second round of talks, the issue of the Syngman Rhee Line unilaterally declared by Korea became more serious, and on February 4, 1953, immediately before the talks, a Japanese civilian fishing vessel was fired upon by the Korean Navy, resulting in the death of the captain in what became known as the Daiichi Daibō-maru Incident.
Furthermore, on April 20, immediately after the start of the second round of talks, the Korean militia Dokdo Volunteer Guard was stationed on Takeshima, Shimane Prefecture.
It should be noted that the Korean War was suspended by an armistice on July 27, 1953.

The Third Round of Talks
The third round of talks was held from October 6 to October 21, 1953.
According to Kan’ichirō Kubota, Counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and chief representative on the Japanese side, prior to the third round of talks on October 6, negotiations had concerned not matters of principle but rather administrative issues such as unpaid wages, cultural properties, and fisheries.
However, against the backdrop of the Daiichi Daibō-maru Incident and the landing on Takeshima by Korean militia, in the talks from October onward the Korean side sought to resolve all issues at once under pressure from faits accomplis, shifting from administrative matters to fundamental issues, which led to the historical recognition issues concerning the annexation of Korea at the October 15 meeting later known as the “Kubota Statement.”

At the meeting on October 13, 1953, Counselor Kubota stated that during the war Japan had engaged in plunder and destruction in Southeast Asian countries and was seeking to provide compensation for that, but that there was no fact of plunder or destruction in Korea and therefore no compensation would be provided, adding that if such facts did exist, compensation would be made.

This manuscript continues.