Kuriles, Russia
Japan this week demanded that Russia return four islands that it occupied at the end of World War II. The rocky islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kuriles and Japan calls the Northern Territories, had been under Japanese control for more than a century when the Allies promised them to the Soviet Union at the 1945 Yalta peace conference. The Soviets occupied the islands the following year, and kicked out the few thousand Japanese who lived there; today the Kuriles are home to some 15,000 Russian citizens. Japan and the Soviet Union never concluded a formal peace treaty after World War II because of the dispute, and this week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said that his country would not sign a trade agreement with Russia until the islands were returned.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
US foodies brace for tariff warUnder The Radar Shoppers stocking up on imported olive oil, maple syrup and European wine as price hikes loom
-
How Canadian tariffs could impact tourism to the USIn the Spotlight Canadians represent the largest group of foreign visitors to the United States. But they may soon stop visiting.
-
Entitlements: DOGE goes after Social SecurityFeature Elon Musk is pushing false claims about Social Security fraud
