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

Korea's precious land

Gold Prize Kim Yoo-lim This writer is in the third year of Pungsan Middle School in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

For many years now, the Japanese have argued that they have rights over Dokdo; however, their claims and assertions are groundless. Furthermore, most of these claims are false.

They are forcing their rights over Dokdo with inappropriate evidence.
They claim that they had recognized the existence of the islets long before Korea did. Another claim of theirs is that the United States also recognized Dokdo as Japanese territory.

They also continuously cast their doubts over the evidence that Korea claims. They even claim that Korea refused to take the matter to the International Court of Justice.

Korea does not need to prove that this island belongs to them. Dokdo is historically, geographically, and rightfully Korean territory, and I am opposed to Japan's claim over Dokdo.

Japan's first claim over Dokdo is that Japan has long recognized the existence of Dokdo, and Korea failed to do so. In 1779, a map was privately made in Japan that works in Korea's favor.

On this map, Ulleungdo and Dokdo are uncolored as is the Korean peninsula, indicating those two islands are not Japanese territory. Recently, this map was discovered.However, since it was privately made, Japan claims that it cannot be used as evidence.

In addition, anyone can safely conclude that Korea knew of Dokdo's existence as soon as U l l e u n g d o was first discovered. On a clear day, Dokdo can be seen from Ulleungdo with the naked eyes.

Almost all of the Korean maps from this time period include both islands in the East Sea. Even Korean people currently reside on the island on Dokdo. Everything from past to present seems to show that Dokdo belongs to Korea.

Japan's second claim is that the United States approved Dokdo as Japanese territory. The reason for this claim is that the U.S. forces used Dokdo as a bombing range in Japan.

However, when the Korean government protested this activity, the American Air Force immediately excluded Dokdo from its bombing range and sent the Korean government an official notification of the action.

This notification clearly stated that the bombing was due to Japan's incitation. This notification can be seen in the records from the National Diet of Japan.

Throughout history, Japan has never established territorial sovereignty over Dokdo. They attempted to do so in 1905, but Korea had already established territorial sovereignty over Dokdo.

Japan's last claim over Dokdo is that they cannot trust the evidences that Korea have presented. They cast their doubts especially over a report by An Yong-bok, who was a Korean governor and general.

When he visited Dokdo, Japanese fishermen lived on the island. He forced the fishermen to leave the Korean territory and eventually became the governor of Dokdo and Ulleung-do. To this day, a patrol force exists on the island of Dokdo. An created this patrol force.

However, even with all of this information the Japanese government still doubts this evidence because some facts in the Korean records are not in those of Japan.

It is unfair and unacceptable for Japan to insist that Korea's official records are not credible because some parts are not included in their own ones. Furthermore, An's activities are specifically described in detail in many Korean and Japanese texts.

Several years ago, Japan claimed that Korea rejected the proposal to submit the dispute to the International Court of Justice.

This claim is ironic because while Japan refuses to bring other territorial issues to the court, they assert that the Dokdo issue should be solved through a decision from the court. It is an obvious fact that Dokdo is an integral part of Korea's territory.

There is no reason for Korea to turn to the courts. The solution to this problem is for Japan to withdraw their claim.

Over the years, Japan has inflicted much pain on neighboring countries.
This time Japan needs to recede and fight to keep peace and prosperity in Asia.

As you can see from the evidence given above, Dokdo is Korean territory. Japan's claims are full of faults and their three major claims are unreasonable and inadequate.

Dokdo can be seen with the naked eye from Ulleung-do and their reasons for saying that the U.S. approved Dokdo as Japanese territory is also false.

Their claims against the An Yong-bok story are unacceptable. This might seem like a petty argument to the rest of the world, but Dokdo does matter. This small island benefits Korea in securing natural resources and military power.

Furthermore, rare fish species thrive in the waters surrounding Dokdo.
This island does matter, and I hope that the world sees that it belongs to Korea.

Korea does not need to hide from the International Court of Justice or anyone else. Historically, Korea has been and always will be the rightful ruler of these islets and the dispute over Dokdo should end.