<Foreign Community>

 

By Rigoberto Banta Jr., Guest Reporter

 

Given the chance to spend a couple of days to visit the islands of Dokdo and its sister island of Uellongdo, it sounded more of a new adventure to me. The smell of sea, the sight of fresh fish—it reminded me a lot of home. The nature that surrounds these islands is just so pristine it seemed like time had literally stopped. With the company of good friends, that three-day trip to Dokdo and Uellongdo will probably be my greatest experience of summer 2010. But along with its natural beauty and probable economical value, the controversy that envelopes this island’s history might just be the reason why foreigners do not have sufficient knowledge about it.

 

Dokdo Island located on the East Sea has spurred yet another conflict between Japan and Korea that threatened another arms race in the Far East during the late years. The clashing interest of both countries has deepened and has in a way severed once again the ties between these two nations. With both armed with their own set of evidences ready to present to the international community and backing from third parties, this conflict is brewing another storm threatening world peace. What exactly does Dokdo have enough for two nations both with sufficient history of pain due to war been ready to enter another one in the name of claiming rights over this piece of land?

The way I see it, Dokdo, compared to its sister island of Uellongdo, is basically a rock island almost without anything to offer. Land in Dokdo has been thinned and can only support a certain number of flora and fauna due to the bombing drills over the islets in the past. Biodiversity near the coast of the island is dying off due to the pollution caused by malodorous sludge dumped to it every single day.^[1]

In a way, we can look to it as a military tactic to acquire this island in order to manipulate the movement of naval forces in the East Sea with its strategic position right in the middle of Japan and South Korea. The speculation of oil reserves in the island, however, is something null and void of usage as there is no concrete evidence at hand. Having enough said, is Dokdo still something worth claiming?

More than a fight over territory, I believe this crisis symbolizes national pride. National pride for Koreans, as we know, plays a huge part in Korean everyday life. "These islands embody Northeast Asia's 20^th century" says Connecticut College historian Alexis Dudden in his speech to the annual Association for Asian Studies meeting in the United States.^[2] It is a rallying point for Korean prestige that is provoked my Japanese right-wing politicians’ actions. The evidences that Korea and Japan has laid to prove their claims left Japan losing the race therefore leaving Korea as the rightful owner of the islets. But with the current actions of the Japanese towards insisting rights over the islands (Japan's Shimane prefecture established a "Takeshima Day" on 2005 to declare its ownership of the islets), the Koreans are left with no choice but to fight for their land.

The way people saw this crisis proves Korean rightful claim as well. Angry demonstrations from the Korean citizens themselves prove their cause, among which are extreme reactions of self-mutilation and self-immolation. In an era of wide-spread information exchange, these actions are driven by enlightenment of the factual concepts covering the conflict. This is complimented by the neutrality of the general population of Japan.

As a foreigner I see this not as a crisis but an opportunity, an opportunity for Koreans to show their unity in face of tribulation. Being nationalistic over your country’s causes is a must but Koreans have proved that even without the provocation of the central government they know their responsibilities as citizens of this nation. If you have the chance to go to visit this islands, keep in mind how long it took them to give you the chance to view the beauty of this one of kind place.

 

^[2http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/04/01/BAGANI1TT31.DTL&hw=Dokdo+Riders&sn=001&sc=1000