By Choi Yearn-hong

Finally I made a trip to Ulleungdo and Dokdo as a special member of the Korean-American Pharmacists Association in the last three days of April. Two nights and three days were not enough to see Ulleungdo and Dokdo.

I planned to visit the islands last fall, but the rough sea did not permit passage to these islands. So my pleasure of visiting Ulleungdo and Dokdo became enormous. As a matter of fact, Ulleungdo was a way to Dokdo, but Ulleungdo itself is worth a visit.

I would like to suggest to all Korea Times readers to visit the islands in the East Sea. If you climb Seongin Peak, almost 1,000 meters from sea level, then you can see Dokdo, about 82 kilometers from the southeast with your naked eyes on a fine day for 50 days out of a year.

Even if you are not a professional mountain climber, you will enjoy the steep mountains of Ulleungdo. You can also enjoy various villages from the port to the crater. About 4,000 families, with 9,000 residents, occupy Ulleungdo.

Once the island was occupied by 30,000 people. Now, more than 1,000 tourists are visiting Ulleungdo every day when the sea voyage permits. Tourism is the main revenue source for the island.

We took the ship from Mukho, Gangwon Province, to Ulleungdo, a two-and-a-half-hour journey. Some tourists came from Pohang, a three-hour journey over a peaceful sea. If the sea is rough, it will take more time.

All Korean people learned in their elementary school days that the Silla Kingdom's General Isabu conquered Usanguk ― which was composed of Ulleungdo and the surrounding islands in its vicinity ― in the 6th century.

The conquest can't have been easy, because of its steep cliffs and rough sea. Since then, Dokdo has been part of Usanguk. But the Japanese government claim that Dokdo was not part of Ulleungdo or Usanguk.

They also claim that Jukdo has been identified by the Korean people as Dokdo. Jukdo is a short swimming distance from Ulleungdo, so that it should not be seriously discussed as an island belonging to Ulleungdo.

Ulleungdo is proud of three non-existing things ― no pollution, no thieves and no snakes. It also boats the five existing things of tall red pine trees, rocks, wind, water and beautiful women.

I can imagine that the Japanese pirates landed and cut the abundant pine trees and shipped them to Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries when Ulleungdo was empty through the Joseon Kingdom policy to prevent the island from becoming a haven for criminals.

For more than 300 years, the island was unoccupied. During that time, the Japanese fishermen landed and thought that it was their newly discovered terrain. It must have been a virgin land with tall trees in the 16th century.

Ahn Jong-bok, a fisherman from Dongnae, Busan, protested Japan's Tokugawa government and recovered Ulleungdo and the surrounding islands in its vicinity. Ahn's heroic diplomatic acts should be more explored and discussed among historians.

He was not a high-ranking government official. He was just a fisherman patriotic enough to protest against the Japanese government with his courage and conviction.

Two hours of sightseeing around Ulleungdo from the cruise ship was fun ― from Dodong to Jeodong to Jukdo, to Gwaneumdo to Samseonam to Sadong. Touring Ulleungdo by car is also fun.

You can stop by various villages and can taste pumpkin jelly, bread and yeot (glutinous jelly), and roasted squid. The harvesting season for squid is from July to November.

Landing on Dokdo on April 29 was a most unforgettable day. It was very fortunate for all of us, because we planned this trip a year ago. God blessed our journey to Dokdo.

Visitors can land on the island for only 60 days out of the year. The Dokdo Defense Forces, Kim and his wife and one good-looking dog greeted us. We donated 2 million won as a token of our thanks to the forces and sang a song, ``Dokdo is Our Land," and cheered them. We spent 20 minutes or so on the East Islet.

I could not see seals during my 20-minute stay. There must have been many seals at one time, since our ancestors called Dokdo ``Gajido," the island of seals.

Another name given to Dokdo, Sambongdo (Three-Peak Island), can be appreciated from a long distance, because the two islets have three peaks. Many photographs of Dokdo show the three peaks. Who killed all the seals? That is one good question.

We visited the Dokdo Museum at Ulleungdo. It is one of the most beautiful modern buildings, which Samsung constructed and donated to Ulleungdo with old maps and documents that the late Lee Jong-hak collected and donated.

I appreciated the museum. However, I could not see any piece from The Korea Times' precious collection on Dokdo in its special edition. Precious Dokdo collections have been done by The Korea Times.

I attempted to see the head of the museum in order to propose that the museum should exhibit The Korea Times' special works on Dokdo, but he was traveling to the United States during my visit. I hope this column can reach him.

The Korean-American Pharmacists' Association will print poems and essays on Dokdo in its next newsletter from the April trip. I hope The Korea Times reprint them in its special on Dokdo.

I thank Yoo Chang-ho, CEO of the association, who planned the Dokdo trip in advance for one fine day in April. Sea in spring is most peaceful, according to the weathermen. He is a very good forecaster.

Dr. Choi is a Korea Times columnist. He can be reached at yearnhchoi@gmail.com.