Koreas Strategy on Dokdo Short-Sighted
By Sunny Lee
Korea Times Correspondent
BEIJING ― A Chinese scholar has said Korea's diplomatic approach to Dokdo should have been done in an "aggressive yet quieter manner." By making it a full-blown case, the whole world now knows that Dokdo is disputed, he observed.
Although it was Japan that provoked Korea, by staying cool and not responding to the Korean rage, the country actually scored more, he said, not wanting to be identified because of his official post with the government.
``It has also shown the world that Koreans are very emotional and nationalistic, while Japanese appear cool and calm,''he reasoned, adding a country like Korea, small in land and scarce in natural resources, should always maintain a vigorous global outreach strategy. But the Dokdo issue has given the world the view, he believes, that Koreans are more inwardly focused.
``It is understandable that Koreans are upset and express their anger on what they perceive to be a serious violation of their territorial sovereignty, but they should also pay attention to how they are perceived by others.''
``From an outsiders view, Dokdo is essentially a lonely cluster of islands with no inhabitants. The excessive emotion shown by Koreans didn't make them heroes in the eyes of people who are detached from the issue. I think the Japanese are probably better able to strategize on this matter," he said.
Essentially, North Korea is a much more important priority than Dokdo, but all national energy has been diverted to Dokdo, he said. The Lee Myung-bak administration wants to woo voters, who want to see him making a strong statement on Dokdo.
``That may have been Lee's choice for political survival to boost his ratings in domestic politics, but it may hurt a lot of Korea's long-term international interest," he said.
Even though President George W. Bush reversed the change made by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in an apparent move to win the "hearts and minds of Korean people" ahead of his imminent visit to Korea, it remains to be seen how things will pan out. The U.S. body recently described Dokdo as not belonging to any state.
Some Japanese media predict that Washington will change its position again after an in-depth look into the matter.
Similar to Korea, China has a bitter territorial dispute with Japan surrounding the Diayutai Islands (also known as Senkaku in Japanese). But outwardly, China tries not to make the disputed islands such a hotbed of controversy. Rather, it tries to maintain a constructive and working relationship with Japan while solving the issue through quiet diplomatic channels.
``Some issues are better handled that way. Koreans seem to want to put everything on the table and talk about it loudly," he said, adding "With all the clamoring, you feel good about yourself and are led to believe that you are winning. That may not be the case," he said.
He added: "In this globalized world, every country is connected to all others. One should be mature enough to work with one's enemies."
This week, the state-controlled China Daily ran the Korea-Japan dispute with a picture of Korean special warfare commando soldiers in a sea infiltration drill in an apparent military showoff, adding the Korean Navy would conduct a drill in defense of the islands.
Incidentally, the same Chinese paper on the same day also ran a picture of the Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda shaking hands with survivors of the Sichuan earthquake on their visit to Japan.