Bitter memories of Japan on Ulleung Island

By Lee Tae-hoon

Ulleung Island in the East Sea has an unhappy history with Japan.

The remnants are still scattered on the island.

It is not difficult to spot Japanese houses on the scenic island as the residents have decided to preserve them to teach new generations about the country’s bitter colonial occupation by Japan.

Settlements by Japanese fishermen and businessmen date back to at least 1897, more than 10 years prior to Japan’s colonization of the entire Korean Peninsula in 1910.

Japanese migrants lived there on the condition of paying taxes to the Korean government, but this did not stop Japanese troops from constructing military watch towers to prepare for naval battles during the Russo-Japanese War.

Some observers see layers of hope that Ulleung Island will become a thriving international port town with throngs of Japanese tourists once Tokyo renounces its claims on Dokdo and apologizes for the atrocities it committed during colonial rule, such as the sexual enslavement of Korean women.