Dokdo, a group of islets in the East Sea, is a deeply emotional issue for Koreans. Whenever Japan claims territorial rights to Dokdo, the Korean press, civic groups and individuals are quick to express their anger. But a territorial dispute cannot be resolved with emotions only, an idea that is painfully explored by "Sorry, Dokdo," the first Korean film dedicated to Dokdo.The problem is not that Korean authorities and scholars have been neglecting their duty to collect evidence; the problem is that there is no evidence for them to collect since Takeshima (Dokdo) was never part of Korean territory before it was forcefully occupied by Koreans in the early 1950s.
Directed by Choi Hyun-muk, the documentary shows how meticulously Japan has been taking steps to claim its sovereignty over what it calls Takeshima. Choi makes a claim that Japanese authorities and scholars have been producing a growing body of official documents and scholarly research while Korean counterparts neglect amassing academic evidence.
Except for returning Takeshima to Japan, the next best thing the Korean government can do is to be quiet about the issue, so as not to draw attention to the fact that the islets were stolen from Japan.
Gerry, thanks for the interesting article. Did they come to know that there is NO evidence for Korea? If they did, there is no problem....
ReplyDeleteFunny is that the name Takeshima was not even referring to Dokdo in ancient times.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi dokdo-korea,
ReplyDeleteIf you read all of this website carefully, you will know that Japan had always the names for Liancourt Rocks (Matsushima, Ryanko-to, Ryankorudo-gan, and then Takeshima in 1905) but that Korea had no mane for Liancourt Rocks until they became to call the rocks as Dokdo in early 20th century.
Usando was not Liancourt Rocks, Sambongdo was not Liancourt Rocks and Gajido was not Liancourt Rocks.