By Lee Yong-joo
The political and diplomatic dispute between Korea and Japan over Dokdo escalated after President Lee Myung-bak visited the nation’s easternmost islets last month. This was the first time for a South Korean President to make such a trip.
As expected, it triggered a fierce protest from Tokyo, which insists the islets are its territory.
President Lee said that his visit was part of his duty as head of state, and he had planned the trip three years ago. Initially, he planned to stay a night on the islets but decided to return to Seoul the same day because of bad weather. The following day, Koichiro Gemba, Japan's foreign minister, said Japan would take the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Seoul, meanwhile, rejected Tokyo’s move because it was meaningless. That is to say, South Korea regained independence from Japan’s colonial rule and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula, and has kept a small police detachment on Dokdo since 1954.
On the day after President Lee visited Dokdo, South Korea defeated Japan 2-0 at the London Olympic soccer game. Celebrating the victory taking the bronze medal, a South Korea football player, Park Jong-woo, displayed a sign that read, in Korean, “Dokdo is Our Territory,” which was passed to the midfielder from a fan in the stands.
Unfortunately, Park was barred from the medal ceremony following his controversial post-match celebration because it violated the political neutrality of the Games.
FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are investigating the incident, having apparently deemed Park’s action politically motivated. The Olympic Charter prohibits athletes from displaying political messages.
South Koreans have stressed Park’s action was not premeditated or intentional. The Korea Football Association (KFA) and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) have also come under fire for their handling of the situation.
At this point, a group of South Koreans, led by famous rock star Kim Jang-hoon, began a three-day project to swim the 220-kilometer distance in a relay from an eastern port to Dokdo.
Two members of the team arrived at Dokdo on Aug. 15 to celebrate the 67th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s rule. They were accompanied by a small flotilla of escort boats.
The main boat carrying the team, which also included actor Song Il-kook and dozens of college athletic students, had planned to land on Dokdo, but could not do so because of high waves. CNN used the Yonhap News Agency’s report on Kim’s comments shortly before jumping into the water.
Kim said that he would never make such a comment as “Dokdo is our territory” when he arrived there because they are undeniably our territory.
The 45-year-old rock star Kim is well known for his love of Dokdo and is also planning to make “Dokdo Land,” which is a miniature of the Dokdo islets, on a side of the Han River. He wants to promote Dokdo as a cultural icon in Seoul like the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
In another example, wine lovers who are seeking a connection with Dokdo may want to go to Shinsegae department stores in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to buy "Dokdo wine."
The store has decided to promote Dokdo wine at an affordable price as part of its campaign to further boost awareness among Koreans that Dokdo is Korean territory. Among others, it has been actively promoting bottles of 799-805, the so-called Dokdo wine, which gained its name because 799-805 is the Korean postal code for the islets.
Recently, the Northeast Asian History Foundation, which was founded in 2006 and works to raise awareness of historical disputes in Northeast Asia, especially regarding Dokdo, opened the Dokdo museum to deliver accurate information about the islets.
It is comprised of four sections ― "History and the Future," "Nature," "4D Theater" and "Feature Exhibition" ― to show Dokdo's history through computer generated images.
I hope not only Koreans, but also many foreigners, including Japanese will visit the museum. To promote our territory Dokdo overseas, I took part in the Global History Academy for university students, organized by the foundation and the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK).
Almost 100 participants learned about the historical background of Dokdo. We also thought of various ways to let the world know that the islets are Korean territory historically, geographically and under international law.
For instance, we can make a Dokdo blog on the Internet and communicate with foreign friends about the islets through social media such as Facebook and Tweeter.
In response to Japan's claims, Korea continues to notify the international community of the true history of Dokdo. We also should beef up more efforts to spread the truth to the whole world in a strategic way.
I believe that each of us has a duty to support the efforts by the government and other organizations to protect our territory, as this issue has been lingering for over a century and Japan is becoming more aggressive.
The writer is a sophomore at Seoul National University, majoring in biology and chemistry.