Last fall they got 87 native speaker teachers to go. We read the account of one earlier:
When we arrive, we aren’t allowed to get on the boat right away, first we all stood in a group and the cameramen filmed us talking, just shooting the breeze, about the blah weather, and the fact that we likely wouldn’t even be able to set foot on Dok-do because the waves would likely be too choppy surrounding the island. After a few close-ups we were let onboard and the crew led the way to our cabins. Each room had 3 bunk beds and our names were on the doors, boys on the left and girls on the right. After claiming our spots and mingling in the hallway while a few were interviewed on camera (What do you think about Dok-do island? Do you think you will have a good visit to Dok-do? Do you feel Dok-do is an important issue?) we were called on deck for the funniest part of the trip…little did I know it was to be one of the last times we’d smile on board this ship. They gave us name tags with the now famous motto: Dok-do is Korean territory, and a picture of our flag so we could all see what country we were from, and then we were rounded up in front of the giant Dok-do banner (it travels) and instructed to wave our flags and say, in Korean, that Dok-do is Korean territory. Are you picking up on the theme? They were going to air this footage on t.v and we were all reasonably sure that we would be forever banned from entering the country of Japan after this little display went public.Anyone who knows anything about Koreans will know this trip will be nothing but a propoganda exercise. Why get involved? Here's what I wrote about not participating in a Dokdo essay contest run by the Korea Times:
I believe that getting involved in a war of words on this unresolvable topic runs antithetical to the spirit of openness and cross-cultural understanding many of us came over here to experience in the first place.
If your motivation for going is to score some points in the office, take it from me that goodwill can dissipate quickly anytime you do, oh, anything.
15 comments:
F_CK that. I would go and write an essay about how I don't support being used as a propaganda tool. Are JET participants being used by Japan? I don't think so. If I didn't know that it was South Korea, this would easily be something the North would do (if they had foreign teachers.) I would hardly classify EPIK teachers as being the bellwether of international opinion.
I would go for the free trip to Ullŭngdo, which is one place I'd really like to see (maybe this summer) but have yet to go.
Tokto itself would be an interesting place to see as a side trip to a visit to Ullŭngdo, for a number of reasons, including the bit of political intrigue (along the lines of visiting the JSA, though that's more of a must-see thing).
I don't like the idea of being made to write a four-page reaction paper on it, unless I were assured that I could write whatever mix of positive or negative impressions I see fit. After all, they are paying for it. Still, I wouldn't want to be on TV over this.
Actually, I'm generally supportive of the idea of civilian trips around the island, just because it's a better channeling of energy than what was going on in 2005. Japan has territorial disputes with several of its neighbors that largely boil down to Tokyo's right-wingers unwilling to give up the ghost on the last remnants of Imperial expansionism in the 1930s and 1940s. South Korean vessels transporting tourists to Tokto stands in sharp contrast to right-wing thugs trying to land speedboats on the islets and being turned back: it underscores who has actual possession of the rocks and over time that will build confidence and make people less shrill about this thing that should have been settled in 1998.
It's actually an immensely tedious pile of rocks, and shouldn't be anybody's side trip from anywhere, ever. Furthermore, 80% of the time the boat can't even land there due to the swell, so let's see the organisers of this inauspicious shindig craft their propaganda from a bunch of seasick high school teachers falling over repeatedly on the back of a boat.
Ulleungdo, however, is awesome. There are no words I can use, except to say that I have decided I would like to retire there, and I am not being sarcastic in any way. Amazing. A hidden gem.
speaking of which,
your favorite columnist pinched out another article about the Liandokashima Rockdo: I think he's trying to be indirect, by dressing it up as a travelogue.
https://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/05/197_44365.html
South Korean vessels transporting tourists to Tokto stands in sharp contrast to right-wing thugs trying to land speedboats on the islets and being turned back: it underscores who has actual possession of the rocks and over time that will build confidence and make people less shrill about this thing that should have been settled in 1998.
Possession does not equate to ownership, particular in this case.
Simply because one has invaded a territory does not mean that they own - or in your words - lawfully "possess" that territory.
[=EDIT=]
Gah. Stupid italics formatting...
They possess it, and short of going to war over it, they will not relinquish possession of it. Ever.
Therefore they own it.
I'd kind of like them to go to war over it. It would be interesting to see how many lives they'd risk over a couple of rocks. It would also be interesting to see how Korean public opinion would likely support such a war over rocks, yet oppose the war in Afghanistan against terrorism and Taliban oppression. I wonder how many protests there'd be against a Tokto war..
They possess it, and short of going to war over it, they will not relinquish possession of it. Ever.
Therefore they own it.
Again, unfortunately, that's not how possession works.
Just because you are the current proprietor of an object/place/creature does not necessarily mean that you own said thing.
If that were the case, anyone who has stolen anything ever would immediately become the new owners of said object and the courts wouldn't be able to do anything about it. They would be the new owners, period.
Of course, that's not how it works in the real world. There's this thing called proof of ownership. You have to be able to prove in a court of law that you own something for you to be able to legally own it.
Since Korea has never brought it's case to an international court, and since the last rulings over the islands have placed the Liancourt Rocks in Japanese possession, Korea is NOT - in reality - the owners of the Liancourt Rocks.
Furthermore, the current categorization of the Rocks as being "disputed territory" is even more evidence that Korea, in fact, does not own the Rocks.
Now, I'm of the opinion that both sides have valid arguements as to why the Rocks may belong to them. I feel it is something that can and should be settled in an international court. Something Japan has offered to do, I might add, and Korea has rejected.
What does this mean? It means, unfortunately, that Korea is taking a cowards's route over the entire process. If the Rocks were really Korea's in the first place, they wouldn't need to have massive propaganda campaigns, cause harm to themselves and other people and brainwash themselves and anyone who comes to the country. They could justly go to war with Japan and no one would say anything against them: They would simply be a country defending its land.
However, I believe the reason Korea hasn't gone to war over the Rocks is two-fold: (1) The Korean government knows they currently don't legally own the land meaning that (2) if they went to war with Japan over the Rocks, they would already lose the battle of public opinion. No one would be on their side except for Korean nationals and Korean sympathisers. Instead, what they're hoping for is that if they cry and yell loud enough, throw enough tantrums and make a big enough scene over the Rocks, people will simply give them to Korea. It is a technique not unfamiliar to anyone who's ever raised a toddler... or a brat.
Koreans currently visiting/living on the Rocks are, essentially, squatters at best, invaders at worst; Which is why the Japanese governement is letting them have their day on the Rocks.
The more Korean time, money and energy is waste on the Rocks, the better it is for Japan. Furthermore, the more people learn and research the dispute, history and facts about the Rocks, the less they'll be sympathetic to the Korean side of the story - regardless of whether they are indeed in the right - because of the actions and atrocities Koreans have commited in the name of the Rocks.
Take me, for example. When I first learned about the Rocks, I was hearing about it 100% from Koreans, and I was initially supportive of the Korean stance. Thing is, I like doing this thing called research, and the more I read about the Rocks, the less my support favoured Korea, and the more upset I became realising I was only getting half of the story: The version according to Korea.
It made me realise why Korea has to force feed propaganda to its people and visitors. The best way to control a people is by keeping them ignorant and seeing red, while the best weapon against ignorance and zealotry is knowledge.
I meant possession as in "the state of controlling something."
I'm not going to get into a lengthy discussion of rightful ownership, but much of my thoughts on the matter are here.
In a nutshell, they had been recognized as a remote part of Korean territory for centuries and acknowledged as much by Japan, but during Japan's expansionism during the Russo-Japanese War, Japan seized them and tried to incorporate them into Japanese territory, followed by the rest of Korea a few years later. The end of World War II called for Japan to give up its imperial-era seizures and this is a part of that.
What's problematic is that Korea does not seek to draw an EEZ out of Tokto (only the 12-mile territorial waters) but Japan does try to use traditionally uninhabited land to draw an EEZ; thus a Tokto land grab could be an eventually maritime grab of tens of thousands of square miles of water. It is no small issue for that reason alone (though there are other reasons).
There, that's as succinct as I can get.
Since Korea has never brought it's case to an international court, and since the last rulings over the islands have placed the Liancourt Rocks in Japanese possession, Korea is NOT - in reality - the owners of the Liancourt Rocks.
To which "last rulings" are you referring?
Korea is NOT - in reality - the owners of the Liancourt RocksAs long as they occupy it, they own it, regardless of your definitions of possession or court ruling or lack thereof.
Even if Korea brought it before the courts and lost, do you REALLY think they would just say "Ooops, we were wrong. Here's your island back". No, they won't. Political and literal suicide.
They only way you will get Korea off that island is through force, and a show of force will just be nothing more than a declaration of war as far as Korea is concerned.
So, if Korea is on the island now, and there is no way to get them off the island, they effectively own it. It doesn't matter what the courts or laws say. Or to paraphrase: "We're here, we're queer!"... no, wait, that wasn't a paraphrase.
If Japan wants it, they're going to have to go and get it. Not gonna happen.
(Aside: personally, I don't think Korea has a claim--and I'm not getting into a who-owns-Liancourt legal debate--but Korea keeps blathering on about how they own the rocks and how Japan can lick their nuts when Korea is ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE ROCKS. Yes, Japan CAN lick their nuts because they are not getting the rocks back, so I really wish everyone would just shut the fuck up about it... the Japanese are much busier fighting with the Russians over another island they want to worry in any seriousness about Liancourt)
Korea keeps blathering on about how they own the rocks and how Japan can lick their nuts
best line ever ROK
How i wish i can have the chance to visit Dokdo as well as Ulleung island. But please i dont want to see posters, tshirts, jackets with messages such as "DO YOU KNOW?", "DOKDO IS KOREAN", not even seat in the boat with a Korean who will discuss to me about why DOKDO is KOREAN or that Sea of Japan should be called EAST SEA (thats disgusting, im tired of listening to that), because i dont really f%$#i@g care :) I just want to travel, period.
"so I really wish everyone would just shut the fuck up about it"
- Agree.
This is Me Posting wrote:
Thing is, I like doing this thing called research, and the more I read about the Rocks, the less my support favoured Korea, and the more upset I became realising I was only getting half of the story: The version according to Korea.
It made me realise why Korea has to force feed propaganda to its people and visitors. The best way to control a people is by keeping them ignorant and seeing red, while the best weapon against ignorance and zealotry is knowledge.
Looking into this stuff is good, and I wholeheartedly agree that the shrillness that has come from the Korean side thanks to the Roh Moohyun administration is counterproductive.
But the Japanese side engages in propaganda as well and forces a party line on this issue, though usually in more insidious ways.
If in your research of the issue, you did not encounter anything on Japan's Okinotorishima and the 154K square mile EEZ it claims, as well as its relevance to Tokto, then you probably haven't done enough research.
That issue is utterly relevant to Tokto, because if Japan were ever to have clear sovereignty over Tokto, it would likely (consistent with its Okinotorishima-related policy) claim tens of thousands of square miles of waters that even the doubters of Korea's claim to Tokto would probably feel rightly belong to Korea.
In short, Korea makes no EEZ claim from Tokto or islands like it (its EEZ claim starts from Ullŭngdo), but since its 1996 policy, Japan does.
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