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.