Dokdo-or-Takeshima?: IHT: "A fierce Korean pride in a lonely group of islets"

29.8.08

IHT: "A fierce Korean pride in a lonely group of islets"

The International Herald Tribune (IHT) has published an August 28 article on Dokdo by Choe Sang-Hun entitled "A fierce Korean pride in a lonely group of islets."

The IHT article comes out just one day after an Associated Press (AP) article by Kim Hyun-jin entitled "SKorean emotions run high over island dispute."

Is it just coincidence that two different articles written by two different men with Korean names have the same theme?

No, it is probably not a coincidence. Both of the men were probably part of the group of foreign journalists carried out to the islets this week on a South Korean Coast Guard ship as part of a government-sponsored tour, as was mentioned in the IHT article. However, I do not really understand why both articles seem to have the same theme, which is that Dokdo is more than just rocks to Koreans, and they will fight to keep them. Is that the message the Korean government wanted to send?

What was the message the Korean government was hoping to send by sponsoring this foreign press tour of Dokdo? Were they simply trying to tell the world, "We have control of the rocks and we are keeping them"?

Is it just coincidence that Korea's Chosun Ilbo posted an article today (August 29) entitled "Japan 'Should Recognize Korea's Effective Control of Dokdo,'" where it was reported that the "renowned Japanese economic and social critic Kenichi Omae" has urged the Japanese government to admit Korea's "effective control" of the Dokdo islets?

Is the Korean government now trying to take the attention off the history of Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks) and put it on "effective control"? If that is Korea's plan, then I think it is a good one because Korea's historical argument for the islets is so weak that to continue to focus on it would end up causing Korea a great deal of embarassment as the historical facts become known to the rest of the world.

4 comments:

小嶋日向守29/8/08 22:06
오마에씨는 조선일보의 표제에 있는 일은 일절 말하지 않았다.
조선일보가, 기사의 문장으로부터 적당한 어구를 추출하고, 적당한 해석을 하고 있을 뿐
전형적 왜곡 기사
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dokdo-takeshima.com29/8/08 22:24
Gerry, the Dokdo Takeshima dispute is not just a historical problem. The problem is also a territorial issue and if both sides keep arguing about the historical issues they'll never solve the territorial part.

Neither Korea nor Japan are denying the past, they just have different versions of it. Japan is insisting this issue be resolved by the ICJ. In reality no adjudicator is capable of granting a one percent amicable solution to this problem as many of the historical records that revolve around the issue are open to many interpretations and thus subjective.

So really, what Japan can never do it justify their claim to Dokdo on the merits of pure fairness. That being an equitable division of the East Sea's (Sea of Japan's) marine resources based on the inherent geographical attributes of the Dokdo Takeshima region. Because Ulleungdo is so close to Dokdo, it is just not acceptable to whop up the Japan - Korea boundary between the two especially when you consider Ulleungdo is Korean land since the 6th Century. As always, Ulleungdo and Dokdo are together and they always should be.

At the end of the day what we currently already have is a border between Korea and Japan that is already quite fair. Korea's 12 nautical mile limit around Dokdo is equitable.

The-Current-Limit-Is-Fair

I think it's outrageous Japan demands Shimane's Oki Island's fishermen be entitled to twice the amount of water than the fishermen of Korea's Ulleungdo. Don't you Gerry? Clearly Japan's policy toward Dokdo is a reflection of her aggressive policy on expanding her territorial EEZs.

Expansionist-Japan-2008

Japan will ultimately fail in their quest to re-annex Dokdo Takeshima Gerry. That's because Japan cannot justify her claim in a modern context.

Thus, Japan's MOFA and their Takeshima lobbyists remain hopelessly stuck in the past and continue to give themselves a black eye by insisting we draw Korea's territorial limits to the Japan's expansionist era.

What a shame.......
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小嶋日向守30/8/08 03:59
당신은, 한국과 일본의, 언쟁을 부추기고 있다.
한반도와 일본 열도의 역사적 연결은, 낡고, 한편 우호적임 역사가 길다.
당신은, 일본내에 재일 한국인이 대부분 살아, 사이 좋게 살고 있는 것을 생각해야 한다.
일본내의 한국인은, 공평한 정보로 접하고 있기 때문에, 타케시마에 관해서는, 일본 영토라고 생각하는 사람들이 적지 않은 것을 알아야 한다.
본래, 왜인은, 일본 열도 뿐만 아니라, 한반도에 살고 있었다.이것은 중국의 역사서에 쓰여져 있는 상식이다.
한반도 남부로부터 죠몽 토기도 출토하고 있다.
또, 울릉도에 살아, 우산간 지방을 만든 사람들도, 왜인이었다.
가야(임라), (쿠다라)백제도 왜인과 관계가 깊고, 다이와와는 형제국이었다.
당신은 너무도 무지하다.
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　25/3/09 20:58
小嶋日向守 //
1. Please show me any supporting evidence for your outrageous claims.
2. Why you translate into Korean? Just write it in either in Japanese(in this case I won't understand though) or English. Computer translator is lame, and so the output is, as I see.
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NE Shore of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도)

This satellite photo shows Ulleungdo's neighboring islands of Gwaneumdo (觀音島) and Jukdo (竹島) off Ulleungdo's east shore. Gwaneumdo is only about 100 meters offshore and looks more like a cape than an island. Jukdo is about 2 km offshore. The old Korean name for Jukdo was "Usando" (于山島), as many of Korea's old maps show. Koreans claim that Usando was Korea's old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no documents or maps to prove it. Also, Liancourt Rocks is about ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo and are essentially two islands, but all of Korea's old maps show it as one island just off shore of Ulleungdo.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1860 - 1872)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed it with a small island off its eastern shore labeled as "Usan" (于山). Hash marks at the bottom of the map showed that Usan was less than 4 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. That would mean that it would be Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo and is essentially two islands, not one. The map is stored in the National Library of Korea.

"Cheonggudo" (靑邱圖) Atlas (1834)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed Usan (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. The hash marks at the bottom of the map showed the island to be about 4 km offshore. Usando was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo, which is about 2.2 km of Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim false. The map is stored in Seoul National University's Kyujanggak Center for Korean Studies.

"Dong Yeodo" (東輿圖) Atlas (1795 - 1800)

This map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a neighboring island labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), which is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map and many others prove that claim wrong. The map is stored in Japan's "University of Tsukuba Library" (筑波大学附属図書館).

"Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖) - 1800 - 1822

This map of Ullelungdo (鬱陵島) is from the Korean atlas "Joseon-do" (朝鮮圖), which is believed to have been made sometime between 1800 and 1822. Ulleungdo is shown with a neighboring island labeled as Usan (于山). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島) was the old Korean name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others show that it was Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島), which is Ulleungdo's largest neighboring island and only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. The map is stored in the Osaka Nakanoshima Library (中之島圖書館).

"Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿) - late 1800s?)

This map of Ulleungdo comes from an atlas entitled "Gwandong Bangyeo" (關東方輿), which was probably made in the late 1800s since the map is very similarly to another map of Ulleungdo that was made between 1884 and 1894. The mapmaker used gridlines to help show relative size and distance. The map shows Ulleungdo with a small island off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山), which was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도). Jukdo is Ulleungdo's largest neighoring island and is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Koreans claim that Usando was the old Korean name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but they have no maps or documents to prove it. The map is stored in the Korean National Library.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1750 - 1768)

This Korean map of Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) showed "Usan" (于山 - 우산) as a neighboring island. The grid lines on the map helped show the small island's relative distance from Ulleungdo. Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old Korean name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about 2.2 km off Ulleungdo's east shore. Korean's claim that Usando was the old name for "Dokdo" (Liancourt Rocks), but this map and many others prove that claim false.

Inspector's Map of Ulleungdo (1711)

The map is an inspector's map that showed Ulleungdo with an island off its east shore labeled as "the so-called Usando" (所謂于山島). The small island was also labeled as having "fields of haejang bamboo" (海長竹田). Koreans claim that Usando was Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map shows that it could not have been Dokdo since Dokdo is just rocks without the soil to grow haejang bamboo. Also, Usando was shown as a neighboring island of Ulleungdo, but Dokdo is 92 km southeast of Ulleungdo. Stored in Seoul Nat'l University's Kyujanggak Institute of Korean Studies.

"Haejwa Jeondo" (海左全圖) - mid 1800s

This old Korean map showed Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usan" (于山 - 우산). Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is evidence against the Korean claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands 92 kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usan on this map is just off Ulleungdo's east shore and is only one island. In fact, Usando was the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore.

Carte de la Coree (1846)

This map was made iin 1846 by Kim Dae-geon (金大建), who was Korea's first Catholic priest. He made this map for the benefit of the French priest he works with. He was killed by the Joseon government the same year this map was made. The map shows Ulleungdo labeled in French as "Oulangto" and its neighboring island of Usando labeled as "Ousan." Koreans claim that Usando (于山島 - 우산도) was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rock), but this map shows Usando as one island just of the east shore of Ulleungdo. That tells us that Usando was almost certainly Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is only 2 kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. Also, this island could not have been Liancourt Rocks since Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands not one. The original of this map is stored in the National Library of France.

Joseon Jeondo (朝鮮全圖) from the "Gakdo Jido" (各道地圖) Atlas (latter 18th c.)

This old Korean map showed an island labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도) just off the east shore of Ulleundo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo (Liancourt Rocks), but this map is more evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but this map shows Usando as one island just off Ulleungdo's east shore. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in Korea's Yeongnam University Museum.

"Joseon Jido" (朝鮮地圖) Atlas (1898)

"Donggyeong San Cheon - Paldo Jido (東京山川八道地圖) Atlas (date unknown)

"Jeongukdo" (全國圖) from the "Dongguk Daecheondo" (東國大全圖) - 1740

This old Korean map shows Ulleungdo (鬱陵島 - 울릉도) with a small neighboring island just off its east shore labeled as "Usando" (于山島 - 우산도). Koreans claim that Usando was the old name for Dokdo, but this map is evidence against that claim. Liancourt Rocks is essentially two islands ninety-two kilometers southeast of Ulleungdo, but the Usando on this map is one island just off the east shore of Ulleungdo. Usando was, in fact, the old name for Ulleungdo's neighboring island of Jukdo (竹島 - 죽도), which is about two kilometers off Ulleungdo's east shore. This map is stored in the Korean National Museum.

竹島問題の歴史

29.8.08

IHT: "A fierce Korean pride in a lonely group of islets"

4 comments: