Award Winning Works of 5th Int'l Essay Contest on Dokdo Silver Prize

Islets in hearts of Koreans

Silver Prize Lee Si-jin This writer is in the first year of Ungnam Middle School in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province.

Currently, there is a controversy between Korea and Japan, the two neighboring countries, arguing about Dokdo ownership.

Korea claims that Dokdo is geopolitically, historically, and legally, its territory. Korea's Ulleungdo Island is geographically closer to Dokdo than Japan's Oki Island. This means that Dokdo belongs to Korea, which is geographically closer to it.

Also, there isn't any literature from the Japanese government that says Dokdo is Japan's territory. Japan had recognized that Dokdo is not its territory, but made a sudden change in its position, taking administrative measures on it. This proves that Dokdo isn't Japan's inherent island.

In 1946, the Supreme Command for the Allied Powers made a judgment, admitting that Dokdo is Korea's territory.

In 1948, Korea was given an official approval by the United Nations regarding the sovereignty over Dokdo. In 1952, it was confirmed once again in the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

However, Japan is against us, claiming that Dokdo is their territory. They claim that they first discovered Dokdo in the 17th century and obtained the original title as their territory by utilizing the surrounding territories.

They also claim that they named Dokdo as Takeshima in 1905, and have kept it as a definite title without any protest by other countries including Korea.

However, there are some evidences showing that Japan insists on having its own way.

According to the international law, to acquire certain territory, it should be ownerless and there should be an expression of opinion and an official announcement that the country will acquire that territory.

Also, the country needs the actual occupation of the territory. Since Dokdo became our territory on 512, we have never abandoned it or faced challenges from other countries, including Japan. This makes clear that Dokdo wasn't an ownerless region.

Japan claims that they showed their expression about acquiring Dokdo through a local government's notification in 1905.

But this can't be considered a nation's foreign expression of opinion, and above all things, Dokdo was already under the Korean government's jurisdiction by their territory reorganization in 1900.

Also, Japan argues that they adopted Dokdo's survey and seafood poaching, but objectively, there is no evidence showing that Japan actually dominated Dokdo as a national region.

On the contrary, Korea have always taken control of Dokdo. Although Korea has proper evidences to prove that Dokdo is our territory, Japan doesn't seem to step back from the arguments.

Worse still, many of the maps contain wrong information about Dokdo.
Many foreign maps mark Dokdo as Japan's territory by writing its name Takeshima instead of Dokdo.

In addition, in Japanese textbooks, there is a lot of wrong information about Dokdo.

They write that “Takeshima is Japan's indigenous territory.” They even state that Korea is illegally occupying Dokdo without any basis on the international law.

According to the Northeast Asian History Foundation, Tokyo publications which have a very high choice rate of 61 percent among civil textbooks, also contain this information.

And this means that at least 61 percent of Japanese students will learn that Dokdo is Japan's territory, and that Korea is illegally occupying it. This is a huge concern as Japanese students are likely to have wrong historical perceptions.

As time goes by, more and more foreign websites, magazines, newspaper, and books mark Dokdo as Takeshima.

We don't know exactly why Japan claims the title of Dokdo as much.
What they want might not simply be those methane hydrates reserved under the island, or the unique animals and plants living there.

But something quite clear is that they would not stop arguing about this problem until they finally achieve what they want.

Dokdo is our priceless territory that resembles our liberty and independence.

Dokdo was looked after by generation after generation, and we should also leave it for our descendants.

Therefore, we should adorn Dokdo as a beautiful and c o m f o r t a b l e place, and openly look after it.

To put this into practice, we, as Korea's citizens, should know that Dokdo means a lot for us and try to be more concerned about it.

Unfortunately, although many civil groups are working hard to protect Dokdo, most people still have little interest in it.

Many people still have blind attitudes, acting and talking about Dokdo quite carelessly. I want those people to know more about the preciousness of Dokdo and what it means to us.

To us, Dokdo is a symbolic thing that can unite Korea's factions, that even reunification can't achieve. It is also a key to reunifying North and South Korea. Dokdo is a sacrificial victim of the vicious circle of history, which still continues.

It is an unchangeable wound as well as our sad past that will stay in our heart forever.