South Korean government to build hotel on Liancourt Rocks.

From today's Dong-A Ilbo:

In a bid to protect South Korea’s sovereignty over the Dokdo islets, the government and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) decided to actively enhance habitability of the islets by, for example, building a marine hotel. They also decided to rebuild the communication network with North Korea in the wake of the recent shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Geumgang resort. They also decided to move away from its so-called “quiet diplomacy” with Japan to more active one.

The government and the GNP discussed and agreed upon these measures Sunday at a high-level meeting of officials from both sides including GNP leader Park Hee-tae and Prime Minister Han Seung-soo.

Measures to enhance habitability of the Dokdo islets include building a marine hotel and a comprehensive marine base, ensuring accessibility of citizens, creating a permanent residential village and a Dokdo experience center, and building a Dokdo museum in the Seoul metropolitan area.

They also agreed to develop diverse tourism projects and form a mineral research team. The ruling party also suggested dispatching the Marine Corps instead of the police to beef up security on the islets.

No word on how many barber poles will go up in front of it. The Korea Times has more in an article yesterday about turning the Liancourt Rocks into inhabited islets:

Seoul has stationed a 50-strong police contingent on Dokdo since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War to reinforce its ownership.

During the meeting presided over by the prime minister in Seoul, the government and the ruling party agreed to implement a package of measures to turn the islets into ``habitable'' ones, according to GNP spokesman Cha Myeong-jin.

Currently, there are two permanent residents and two Ulleung county officials on the islets which have no public infrastructure.

In addition, the two sides agreed to conduct investigations of undersea minerals near Dokdo, to allow freer public access to the islets and turn Dokdo into a resort area with hotels, he said.

It is also reported that the government is considering building infrastructure to provide tap water, establish an oceanic scientific base and to dispatch public officials to the area.

That KT article also brings us netizen reactions at the bottom of each and every article, of the quality we've come to expect.

Wasn't but a couple days ago that the government announced further measures to protect what it claims is biodiversity on the rocks. I can think of nothing better for a fragile ecosystem than hordes of maniacal tourists who have already largely depleted wildlife on the peninsula. Plus, we recall the disgusting behavior some Koreans have displayed in Tsushima, another island disputed by some, so encouraging more tourists to the Liancourt Rocks might not be the best idea.