[Norway]: Message for South Korea

[Zak]

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE​

PRIVATE AND CLASSIFIED​

Recipient: Park Hyunjin, Minister of Defence, Republic of Korea As you know, the Royal Norwegian Navy has taken ownership of two Dokdo-class amphibious assault ships which are state of the art vessels which will project our forces to deploy anywhere around the world at a moments notice. We're currently looking to deploy one of these vessels on a training mission and we would like to deploy to South Korea to conduct a port visit and to travel to the Liancourt Rocks which is also called Dokdo which our ships and your wonderful ships are named after so that we can reaffirm our strong friendship with your impending arrival into the Nordic Council. ___________________________________ Rear Admiral Lars Saunes Chief of Staff of the Royal Norwegian Navy​

Jay

 

[Jay]

To: Rear Admiral Saunes < Zak > CC: NamYoungsook@mofa.kr.gov, KimYeongeok@mond.kr.gov, ParkKyungjil@navy.kr.gov

From: ParkHyunjin@mond.kr.gov

Subject: RE [Confidential] [Exercises] ROKN-RNN Discussions

Security: Private and encrypted Protected by the NIS and MoFA DPB

Dear Rear Admiral Saunes,

It is a pleasure to correspond with you Rear Admiral. We are glad the Dokdo-class AAS are meeting your expectations, and look forward to the seeing Norway's role in global peace & security enhanced through Korea's defense manufacturing. I hope that we will sign more agreements in the future. With regards to your offer, whilst our government is happy to host the Norwegian Navy for exercises, we are curious to the exercises being over Dokdo. Understandably, the symbolic representation of your navy in the Islands is more than appreciated and respected by our government, do you have any strategic interests in regards to the exercise? As the islands are not necessarily optimal for a wider exercise of naval vessels as I believe you are suggesting.

Our Navy is happy to host your Navy and conduct joint exercise around Dokdo regardless. The ROK Armed Forces and Coast Guard conduct joint exercises every six months on Dokdo, one in December and one in June. This December we postponed the exercise due to weather issues. We however, usually conduct the exercises to ensure quick response to any territorial intrusion against the Republic of Korea, reinforcing the Police Garrison on the Island, and training our special forces and marines on air-based insertions. Additionally, our Navy and Air Force conduct exercises over the Islands to reinforce our sovereignty and deter aggression.

I look forward to your response, and our Naval Attache in Oslo, Liet. Kim Yeongeok is happy to meet to discuss the technical matters of arranging an exercise, choosing the port of call, issuing NATVEX for the duration of the exercise, accommodations, etc...We are more than willing to accommodate any special considerations you would like.

Signed with sincerity,

---

Republic of Korea
Ministry of National Defense
All information is protected from release by the Diplomatic Communications Security Act 1997
Authorized viewing is limited to those directly emailed, cc'd, and bcc'd​

 

[Zak]

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE​

PRIVATE AND CLASSIFIED​

Recipient: Park Hyunjin, Minister of Defence, Republic of Korea We did not have a joint exercise in mind, it was merely just to get our Naval Forces used to the new vessels we bought from you but we could be interested in a joint exercise. The new vessels are now equipped with helicopters and have a Special Forces detachment assigned to the ship so we wanted to simulate many scenarios such as man overboard operations, ship boarding via helicopters and other scenarios and could do this with our friends within the Republic of Korea Navy. The Liancourt Rocks also named as Dokdo will also remain in the history of the Royal Norwegian Navy as we take ownership of two vessels named after these rocks and we wanted our personnel to undertake history by learning about the islands, and to plant a Norwegian and South Korean flag on the islands as our two countries are now proud owners of the ships named after these islands, and with the new Japanese Government coming into power and claiming these islands, we wanted to stand with our allies. ___________________________________ Rear Admiral Lars Saunes Chief of Staff of the Royal Norwegian Navy​

 

[Jay]

To: Rear Admiral Saunes < Zak > CC: NamYoungsook@mofa.kr.gov, KimYeongeok@mond.kr.gov, ParkKyungjil@navy.kr.gov

From: ParkHyunjin@mond.kr.gov

Subject: RE: [Confidential] [Exercises] ROKN-RNN Discussions

Security: Private and encrypted Protected by the NIS and MoFA DPB

Dear Rear Admiral Saunes,

Thank you for the clarifications. The Republic of Korea has continued to administer Dokdo, remaining an integral part of the Republic of Korea for centuries prior. The illegal de facto annexation of Dokdo during the Russo-Japanese war and the subsequent colonization of Korea are of the same coin, illegal and unjust. Any Japanese claim to the Islands is based on no merit or evidence. Historically, geographically, and under international law, Dokdo is a Korean. No territorial dispute therefore exists, and this is a matter that can not be dealt through diplomatic negotiations or judicial settlement. This is, and remains the basic position of the Government of the Republic of Korea. We will deal firmly and resolutely with any provocation and will continue to defend our sovereignty over Dokdo.

Under this basis, we hope you can understand why we would not permit Norway to plant their flag on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Korea. While we are more than happy to conduct a naval exercise around the Island, and if you would also like for a cultural visit to the Island for your sailors, we can arrange these things. As well as conducting exercises such as you mentioned, the ROK Navy is eager to conduct a joint-naval exercise to see the capacity of our navies to work together.

We strongly wish to commend your interest in understanding the History of the Korean people, and I hope we can make the occasion memorable and fun for your sailors as they learn the history behind the ship they operate. It is truly an appreciated matter.

Regardless what the Japanese Government claims, the territories are apart of Korea, and their claims will continue to be baseless and representative of symptoms from a bygone era of Japanese imperialism that plagued Asia. We appreciate your governments support in recognizing Japan has no claims to Dokdo who's rightful homeland is Korea.

Signed with sincerity,

---

Republic of Korea
Ministry of National Defense
All information is protected from release by the Diplomatic Communications Security Act 1997
Authorized viewing is limited to those directly emailed, cc'd, and bcc'd​