“Whose island is Dokdo?” South Korea and Japan have been in conflict with each other because of this quandary. Each country insists that it has sovereignty over Dokdo for its own reasons, and this dispute is expected to continue for a longer time. Amidst this conflict, many South Koreans are trying hard to make it known to as many people as they can make it known to that Dokdo belongs to South Korea.
-Various advertisements
On March 1, 2010, one of the large billboards along Times Square in Manhattan attracted the attention of the New Yorkers. A Dokdo PR (public relations) material appeared on the screen. It was made by Professor Seo Kyoung-duk, a South Korean PR expert, and singer Kim Jang-hoon. This 30-second PR material became a big hit because it made known to those situated in the heart of New York who saw it that Dokdo belongs to South Korea. Apart from this Times Square PR material, various advertisements about Dokdo were posted all over the place. This campaign is of great significance because it is the civilians, not the South Korean government, who carried it out.
- VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)
VANK is composed of cyberdiplomats who embraced the mission of providing people around the world with correct information on South Korea via e-mail, including information on the Dokdo issue. ST interviewed Lim Hyeon-suk, the Chief Researcher of VANK, to know more about VANK.
ST : What is VANK trying to do about Dokdo?
Lim : VANK has done various things in relation to Dokdo. I would like to introduce to you the typical activities of VANK.
First, we offer video courses and columns of experts on Dokdo through two Websites: Cyber Dokdo Academy and Global Academy of History and Diplomats. To be able to notify other people of the facts regarding Dokdo, we should know why Dokdo is our territory, so we offer many courses on this for everyone for free.
Second, through various promotional materials about Dokdo, we strive to make it known to other people that Dokdo belongs to South Korea. Also, we employ the Dokdo PR strategy among the South Koreans and foreigners.
Third, we investigate and rectify the inaccurate marks pertaining to Dokdo in many foreign maps. These activities are proceeding in “21C Lee Soon-sin Project Site” and are open to everyone.
Japan has been insisting on its sovereignty over Dokdo for a long time. In our view, they are just being very stubborn on the matter, but many foreigners who don’t know about the specific historical circumstances of Dokdo believe that it is part of the Japanese territory. Actually, some foreign maps mark Dokdo as being within the Japanese territory. We should recognize these problems and make concerted efforts to preserve and declare our sovereignty over our beautiful island,
Dokdo.
