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

The meaning of Dokdo for Koreans and why

Shin Yu-jin This writer is a third year student at Hugye middle School in Hasan. S. Gyeongsang Province.

Nowadays Japan and Korea's territorial dispute becomes more serious than any other times. Japan's government wrote 'Takeshima (Dokdo) is Japan's land' in their elementary school students' textbooks. Because of this case, all Koreans became angry, and after that, both nations stepped up their mutual accusations.

So what is Dokdo? And why it is important for Koreans?
Dokdo is at the eastern extremity of Korea and located in the East Sea. It is the earliest made among Korea's volcanic islands and contains two large islands with 89 annexed islands. It has even become one of the national parks in Korea since 2012. Dokdo also has great value to various things. Here are some examples. First, Dokdo is designated as a natural monument in orea because there are many various living creatures. It is also internationally famous for geological features. Second, we can use many nature resources in Dokdo. For example, we can use deep-sea water surrounding Dokdo for drinking water, food, drugs, and cosmetics. Also, methane hydrate (also known as 'burning ice'), a potential main natural resource for the future, is located in Dokdo substantially with other kinds of sea resources. It is expected to help Korea's economical growth. Lastly, it is mportant for military and strategic bases. So it is not only Korea's navy bridgehead but also a military strategic point in case of emergency.

What is Dokdo for Koreans? Why is Dokdo Korean territory?
Koreans say immediately to whomever asks the meaning of Dokdo with this reply is "Dokdo is ours." Preparing this essay, I surveyed Korea students' degree of understanding about Dokdo in school with my friends. Here are some data.

Most of the students know about Dokdo's features or related events specifically, but when I asked how they knew exactly, most of answers were, "Because it is in our textbook."

So why do Koreans think "Dokdo is ours." immediately? Why do even youngsters know about Dokdo specifically? Is it just because of the textbook?
Psychologically, songs can bring messages to our mind potentially. Like this, there is a song that contains the message of Dokdo belonging to Korea, which is titled, 'Dokdo is our territory.' Most Koreans know this song and have sung it since childhood. Also, the song is composed of 5 verses. The first verse is about the geographical situation of Dokdo. The second verse is about the climate of Dokdo. The third verse is about the clean natural environment and the area of Dokdo. The fourth verse is about the accurate evidence proving Dokdo belongs to Korean territory. The fifth verse is about the warning of Japanese government's distortion of history and wrong politics. W know now, when Koreans think about Dokdo, why people, even children, state the same answer and know specifically about Dokdo

Why Dokdo belongs to Korea
The reason for Dokdo belonging to Korea is that Dokdo was already Korean land from a long time ago. Here are the documents can prove that Dokdo is Korea's. First, the document named 'The Chronicles of the Three States (made in year 512)', states that Dokdo is part of the dependent islets in Ulleungdo Island occurred by admiral Yi Sa-bu. Second, in page 53 of the document named 'King Sejong's Royal History (made in year 1454)', there is a sentence can certainly proves that Dokdo is originally Korean territory. Furthermore, there was a Japanese map where Dokdo was marked as belonging to Korea in 1785. Lastly, there are documents of Japan titled 'In Joseon state religion whole story of secret investigation (made in 1870)' and the document of Japan's center of national organization (made in year 1877). They back up the fact Korea owns Dokdo along with Ulleungdo. Also, there was an accident called 'An Yong-bok case' occurred in 1693. Because of that accident, the government of Japan admitted that Ulleungdo and Dokdo are not Japan's territory. There was even a document, which proves 'Dokdo is Korea's territory' in the Japanese colonial era by the last king of Korea, Ko-jong.

Then why is Japan arguing that Dokdo belongs to Japan?
Actually, Japan knows that Dokdo belongs to Korea. They just want to make Dokdo an internationally disputed area. If a certain place becomes an internationally disputed area, government power will no longer be influential. Japan wants this plan because they can widen its EEZ. EEZ is the abbreviation of Exclusive Economic Zone different with territorial waters. We can explore, develop, and conserve the natural resources and survey the sea if we have the right to the EEZ. This is why Japan wants to take our country's natural resources to develop their economic growth. We can assume that this is all about the benefits of the resources.

What can we do to protect Dokdo?
In short, we have to advertise this dispute correctly worldwide. There are some ways to help this. The most important thing is that we have to be interested in Dokdo to know the appropriate knowledge of Dokdo better than any other country. Plus, the Korean government should implement various policies related to Dokdo by following the national opinion and supporting the study of Dokdo. We can't lose what is ours to another country. We have to pay attention and protect what belongs to us. We don't realize how valuable our property is. We have to take responsibility for what our ancestors saved for us.