Do you know a small island to the east of
South Korea? This island, named Dokdo, has been Korea¡¯s rightful territory for
more than a thousand years. I would like explain why Dokdo is ours, not Japan¡¯s.
In 512A.D, there were people living in
Dokdo. Our ancestors who formed a country named Silla, conquered the people and
occupied the land. Until the Russo-Japanese War, there wasn¡¯t a big problem
about which country has the sovereignty over Dokdo. Though the Japan shogunate
tried several times to take it over, eventually we were able to save Dokdo.
During the Russo-Japanese War(1904), Korea was losing control over her country.
Japanese imperialism was taking our sovereignty away little by little. Japan
found out how useful Dokdo is in terms of war, and stole it at their will.
After World War 2, Korea became free of Japan and Japan had to return our
territory back to our people. In the Treaty of San Francisco(1951), Japan
admits Dokdo and Ulleungdo as Korea¡¯s land.
50 years later, they are claiming Dokdo as
their land. Their actions are distorting history. Korea¡¯s citizens cannot stand
that Japan, a country that aggressed upon us recently, are still ignoring our
sovereignty. Also, their actions mean that they are not regretting their
terrible brutality during the World War. People of Korea still The world, not
only Korea, has to tell Japan to stop. One easy way is to use accurate names
when we term lands and seas. Countries not concerned with the Dokdo argument
are naming Dokdo as Liancourt Rocks. They claim that this term is the most
neutral and fair name for the island. The term ¡®Liancourt Rocks¡¯ was first made
in 1849, when a French whaling ship found Dokdo and thought it didn¡¯t have an
owner. Unfortunately for them, Dokdo has a rightful owner, Korea. Like I explained
through the whole letter, Dokdo was ours since the 4th century and
our government is consistently making it clear. It means that the term ¡®Liancourt
Rocks¡¯ is not neutral, but wrong. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you to adjust the wrong
naming of Dokdo. Your website is shown to millions of people who are connected
to the internet. If you correct your wrong naming, more people will know that
Dokdo is Korea¡¯s territory, not Japan¡¯s, or any other countries. Dokdo should
have a single name, Dokdo, only.