뉴스레터

This publication was designed to systematically spell out the Republic of Korea's rationale regarding its sovereignty over the island Dokdo at a time when Japan's territorial claims over the island is crossing the line. Unlike many of the previously published books that treated Dokdo and the East Sea as separate topics, this book covers both according to a broader consideration that the East Sea is where the South Korean islands Ulleungdo and Dokdo are situated.

Scholars of geography and international maritime law as well as elementary school teachers participated in authoring the book in order to secure expert knowledge on the East Sea and Dokdo while also keeping the text at a level appropriate for general readership. The book also caters to non-Korean readers by including an English translation of the text.

Simple Layout for Youths and the General Public

As its title makes quite apparent, the book features stories about the East Sea and Dokdo through maps and photos. Such a layout was intended to make it easy for youths and the general public to read and understand the book's content as they would with a photo album.

The book consists of the following four chapters: The East Sea and Dokdo; The East Sea, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo throughout the History of Korea; The East Sea, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo in the Eyes of the West; Efforts to Defend the East Sea and Dokdo.

The first chapter is devoted to displaying the beauty of Dokdo's geographical location and natural environment. The chapter includes photos of Dokdo taken by the world renown photographer Kim Jung-man and photos of Dokdo's flora and fauna by courtesy of the Ulleung county office, which are accompanied by lyrical text. These photographic representations offer readers a chance to enjoy scenes teeming with life at Dokdo.

The next chapter uses images of maps to show how Koreans have perceived the East Sea, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo since the past. The third chapter exhibits images of maps produced in the West to show how Korean waters and islands have been recognized by westerners. Although the book covers stories specific to Korean seas and islands, the use of maps made by westerners is an attempt to have westerners identify with the fact that Dokdo is Korean territory and waters surrounding it justify the use of the name East Sea. Brief simple notes on the origin and meaning of each old map are also available in the book to assist readers to more easily gain a grasp on them.

The final chapter aims to demonstrate in detail the efforts the government and people of South Korea have invested in order to defend the sovereignty of Dokdo against territorial claims by Japan or to argue for the name East Sea to be concurrently used with the name Sea of Japan. The chapter also presents the progress recently made from such efforts.

People Leading the Protection of Dokdo and the Restoration of Gangchi

Zalophus japonicus, a species of sea lions called "gangchi" in Korean, is a mammal that used to live in the East Sea, but has now become extinct. What primarily made gangchi disappear is because the Japanese indiscriminately hunted them for their skin in the early 1900s. Lately in South Korea, environmental and civic organizations have been leading a project to bring gangchi back to Dokdo with support from the government. It now remains to be seen whether people will be able to witness gangchi swimming in the East Sea again.

In 1953, members of the Corean Alpine Club removed a stone post that had previously been installed at Dokdo by the Sakai Maritime Safety Agency of Japan. The post indicated that Dokdo was part of Japan's Shimane prefecture.

When the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, the Japanese once again targeted Dokdo, which prompted Koreans to volunteer for the cause of defending the island. Protecting Dokdo carried a special meaning for those volunteers, enough for them to put their lives at risk for it. That is because Dokdo had been the very first piece of Korean territory to be taken away by Japanese imperialism and then was later regained along with the liberation of Korea.

The East Sea is now on its way to recovering its name from the scars inflicted by Japanese imperialism. Ever since South Korea joined the United Nations, its government and related organizations have strived to attract more attention from other nations and map makers on the matter of properly naming the sea running along the Korean peninsula's east coast. Those efforts have resulted in the concurrent use of the name East Sea in maps produced in multiple countries around the world. In 2014, the state of Virginia in the United States passed a bill requiring the names East Sea and the Sea of Japan to be concurrently used in state textbooks.

Even for non-Koreans without much knowledge of the seas and islands of Korea, "The East Sea and Dokdo through Maps and Photos" shall be able to help them more easily relate to what the East Sea and Dokdo means to Koreans.