[Viewpoint] "Spreading the word about Dokdo"

The man in the picture to the left is Mr. Yuji Hosaka, who is a professor of Japanese Studies at Korea's Sejong University. He also claims to be a Dokdo scholar who is looking for "a perfect way to make not only Korea but also Japan, the United States and the entire world accept the fact that Dokdo is Korea’s territory."

It sounds to me like Professor Yuji Hosaka is not longer looking for the truth, but rather is simply looking for ways to spread Korean propaganda. In fact, he has essentially admitted that he is working as a propagandist for the Korean claim. Should anyone really take such a "scholar" seriously?

Professor Hosaka and his fellow Korean "Dokdo scholars" may think they are bolstering Korea's position with their silly Dokdo claims, but what they are really doing is setting up themselves and Korea for some major embarrassment when the world eventually learns the "real" truth about Dokdo.

Here is an excerpt from Professor Hosaka's English article in the Dong-a Ilbo, which was entitled, "Spreading the word about Dokdo." The Korean article is HERE, which is where the above picture came from.

As a scholar who has studied sovereignty issues relating to the Dokdo islets, I need to find a perfect way to make not only Korea but also Japan, the United States and the entire world accept the fact that Dokdo is Korea’s territory.

That is not an impossible task.

We need to persuade one country after another, step by step. I felt a strong wish to pursue this goal, even if I only help a little. The wish came to me on the way up to the temple, and by the time I walked back down it had become a concrete thought.

Unbelievably, my wish eventually started to materialize into reality.

My first step was to get approval to give lectures to Japanese students who had come to Korea to study. The initial lecture focused on the history of relations between Korea and Japan; the next covered the Dokdo islets. After listening to my lecture about the islets, Japanese students said they did not know much about the issue before, but could now understand why the islets could be Korea’s territory.

I felt proud and fulfilled.

In September, some 120 Japanese will visit Korea in order to listen to my lecture.