Newsletter

Dokdo Museum Seoul's First Junior Docents

On February 27, 2018, the initiation ceremony for Dokdo Museum Seoul's first junior docents was held at the Northeast Asian History Foundation's grand conference hall. Junior docents have been recruited for the first time to offer good volunteer opportunities to students by having them provide differentiated commentary on the museum's exhibits to their peers who occupy the largest proportion of the museum's visitors. A total of 14 elementary and middle school students were selected out of a competition of about 10 to 1 and went through training for one month before receiving their certificate of appointment at the initiation ceremony. Throughout the month of February, the students attended lectures given by experts on the island Dokdo, learning know-hows on providing commentary, practiced Dokdo-related flash mob routines, helped run the "Hey Dokdo, Let's Play!" program, and wrote their own manuscripts to use for providing commentary. The junior docents will be offering commentary on weekends at Dokdo Museum Seoul from March to August 2018 and participating in other various activities related to raising awareness about the Korean island. Their commentary is expected to make it more easier and fun for their peers to learn about Dokdo at the museum and help themselves feel a sense of achievement from personally contributing to society.

Forum to Analyze Japan's New High School Curriculum Guidelines

On March 14, 2018, the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF) hosted a forum for experts to discuss revisions in the new draft for Japan's high school curriculum guidelines recently released by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as well as issues with problematic descriptions about territory in Japanese textbooks. NAHF research fellows Nam Sang-gu (NAHF Institute of Japanese Studies), Seo Chong-chin (NAHF Institute of Japanese Studies) and Hong Seong-keun (NAHF Institute of Dokdo Research) gave presentations and engaged in in-depth discussions with Professor Shin Ju-baek of Yonsei University, Professor Song Wan-beom of Korea University, and Hyun Dae-song, head of the Korea Maritime Institute's Dokdo Research Center. The forum attracted considerable attention from the Korea media, resulting in a total of 47 coverages.

Launching of the 2018 "Our Dokdo Visits Gwanghwamun" Exhibition

On February 28, the 2018 "Our Dokdo Visits Gwanghwamun" exhibition was launched at 3 o'clock at a special exhibition hall in Gwanghwamun. Around 50 guests attended the launching ceremony and took a tour of the exhibition, including Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and Director Chu Chin-oh of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History.

The exhibition was designed to present exhibits from Dokdo Museum Seoul as well as various other material collected by the Northeast Asian History Foundation's Institute of Dokdo Research. Since it was to take place at a popular tourist destination like Gwanghwamun, commentary for the exhibition was printed in both Korean and English in the hopes of more widely publicizing the territorial sovereignty issue surrounding the island Dokdo.

The exhibition running until April 18, 2018 presents how Dokdo is featured in historical records and old maps, how education about the island is being carried out through textbooks, and what the island's environment looks like through visual sources and projections using virtual reality techniques. The exhibition also conveys the island's mysterious beauty featured in works of art and has a photo zone set up with replicas of General Isabu and a wooden lion, which appear in an ancient tale related to Dokdo. The Northeast Asian History Foundation plans to continue providing exhibitions about the island at different locations to make it known that history, international law, and geography all support the fact that Dokdo is an unmistakable part of Korean territory.