South Korean Dokdo is part of Korean terroritory. . .
Having been in both countries I was really surprised that they teach different history to their students. Korean textbooks have a long discription of history when they were colonized (very specific,obviously with evidence) while the Japanese gov doesnt really mention it. I was also surprised to see news that the Abe admin. started to put statements that the islets are their territory in their textbooks. I was interested in this area since I was in high school and for over ten years I have been studying and looking for evidence on these disputes. I learned, that Japanese people have tortured Korean people in ways that cannot be described by words. Once I had the chance to meet the Korean sex slaves for the Japanese military (I heard comfort woman is not the right expression). The old lady showed me her stomach which had marks of torture and stitches and so on. She told me that she was hung from the plane. Her baby was also killed when she was pregnant and I figured that shes not the only lady that suffered from severe pain like that.
Yes, the Jap gov did give money to the Kor gov several times but they did that to make them shut up. So did they apologize ever? No they didn’t. Apart from everything else, this is really immoral and it sucks yeah it really does. People out here in the states we all were surprised learning all this hidden history that even Japanese people dont know. Or at least they’re acting like they don’t know. I also realized that the islets, may I call it ‘Dokdo’ , is proven to be the territory of ROK. The historical evidence that the Koreans have was never refuted by the Japanese gov and they always seem to then talk about evidence from later times. Yet they state that their evidence was the earliest and so on and so forth I have Japanese friends who live in Japan and who are with me in the states. Most friends in Japan say that the islets are Japan’s but all friends in the states and even some in Japan say that the islets should be called Dokdo. Its just the difference of education. The Jap gov seems to be teaching false history to their future generations just for their greed of land and resources and military, fish and whatever else and I am again surprised that the children and parents dont know what they are learning.
So I also think that the islets are Dokdo. I’ve even been on that land you know. Japan should really stop saying that it’s their territory because no Japanese is even living their nor is it closer to Japan? No it isn’t..It’s a shame on them to not realize how embarrasing it is to take this case ti the International court because obviouslly, Korea wont go with them. Why? Cuz its already theirs! Why fight over something that is already in their hands? This is a neverending ‘the answer is already there’ kind of case Come on, just say that you already know that it’s Dokdo
Oh and while studying more in recent years, I learned about this Japanese map made by Okamuramasutaro that actually marked Dokdo and Ullueng Island as Korea’s territory. So yes, the Japanese government is hiding all this evidence and not letting their citizens know. That’s exactly why I hear some japanese students say that the korean government is manipulating history or whatever. The truth is, that it is their country hiding the truth! Shame! Know the history as it is people!
Video of Dokdo:Dokdo in English
Wikipedia is quite exhaustive on this topic. Here is the digest of what I understand.
Korea's position on Dokdo:
- We had it like since forever.
- Japan swiped it few months before swiping Korea itself. Korea didn't have time to protest, as it was about to be wiped off the map.
- Having it back is symbolically important because it was the first thing that was taken from us. By having that back, Korea can say with confidence the border has been rolled back to the "pre-colonial" position. (except some people believe Japan should cede few more islands like Tsushima.)
- We control it today, with a police presence. (Which in international law is a reasonably strong source of a claim.)
Japan's position on Takeshima:
- Japan declared it theirs back in 1905, because no one lived there. Koreans didn't dispute it.
- After the war, it was recognized in Treaty of San Francisco as Japanese. (peace treaty ending WW II, and defines what was originally Japan, and what was taken from others and had to be given back.)
- US sent a letter to us stating their position that it is Japanese.
- Korea took advantage of a situation where Japan was stripped of it's military, and killed a handful of Japanese fishermen to take over the island. Whatever claim may exist, the means in which it was exercised was criminal.