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The packaging of the Lunar New Year gift sent out by President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook to 15,000 (provided by the Blue House)

The Japanese ambassador to Korea reportedly returned President Moon Jae-in’s Lunar New Year gift, complaining about the illustration of Dokdo on its packaging. The gift box Moon sent to 15,000 recipients — including ambassadors to Korea and distinguished figures from different fields — on Tuesday contains an illustration of the sun rising behind the Dokdo islets.

The Blue House has sent out official Lunar New Year gifts like this every year, packaging regional specialties in boxes decorated with an image symbolizing Korea. Although this year’s gift box design was not deliberately made to provoke Japan nor highlight its subject matter as Dokdo, the Japanese ambassador reported the occurrence to the Japanese media, saying, “[Dokdo] is Japan’s sovereign territory, so I cannot possibly take [the gift].”

The Japanese ambassador’s excessive nitpicking and exploitation of the occurrence to claim Japan’s ownership of Dokdo are extremely regrettable considering Korea’s right to use images of Dokdo, undeniably Korean territory under de facto Korean control. Although the Japanese ambassador’s response is a provocative one that hinders the betterment of Korea-Japan relations, the Blue House has not commented on the event — an appropriate response that doesn’t embroil Korea in Japan’s attempt to frame Dokdo as a disputed territory while preventing Korea-Japan relations from deteriorating even more.

With tensions rising on the Korean Peninsula, in East Asia, and around the world, and the international order suddenly being disrupted only weeks into the new year, both Korea and Japan should be putting forth their best effort to improve relations and cooperate. Yet, relations between the two are the worst they’ve been since the two countries established diplomatic ties, with one aggravating factor after another exacerbating the situation.

For one, there hasn’t been a summit between Korea and Japan for a long time; but not only that, Japan has refused to compensate victims of forced labor during its imperial era while also refusing to apologize to and compensate victims of the “comfort women” system of sexual slavery carried out by its military. Dubbing Korea “a nation that doesn’t keep promises,” it has virtually rejected any and all attempts at a discussion to resolve these issues. Furthermore, with its export restrictions on Korea still in place, Japan is firming up its claim to Dokdo through statements in textbooks and by politicians. The recent Lunar New Year gift incident is in line with this trend.

Japan should keep in mind that its insistence on a matter as sensitive as territory will only pin Korea-Japan relations in a vicious cycle, which will lead to big losses on its part. Korea should also look back on whether certain of its politicians have overly taken advantage of anti-Japanese sentiment for domestic political gain.

The two countries should no longer put off the task of figuring out the key to improving relations through calm and serious dialogue.

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