Dokdo Day 10/25
♥The Names and History Of Dokdo♥ (Vocab List at the End)
Hello! It's Admin Do and Admin Sun! Today is Dokdo Day in Korea! Today we'll talk about the Dokdo Islands!
Dokdo is an island in the East sea (It's called the Japan sea in some sources. There's an ongoing name dispute between Japan and Korea whether it should be named the 'Sea of Japan' or the 'East sea'(동해). Since this is a Korea blog, I'm using the term East sea.). This Island is disputed between Korea and Japan. While Korea holds sovereignty over the islands, Japan claims the islands should be rightfully theirs. In Japan, the islands are called 'Takeshima'. Another name for Dokdo is 'Liancourt rocks', which is a neutral term used by other countries. (Same with the East sea, since this is a Korea blog I'm using the term 'Dokdo'). 10/25 is Dokdo day(독도의 날), which is to celebrate Dokdo. (In Korea, we sometimes do stuff like read books on Dokdo, or write essays about it on this day. Usually the school serves cake shaped like Dokdo (Dokdo cake) too!)
(Photo credit: https://www.google.com/amp/m.kmib.co.kr/view_amp.asp%3farcid=0013860247)
Dokdo consists of two islets, 동도(East islet) and 서도(West Islet) and other 89 small islets. Today we will briefly look at the history of Dokdo. (*Since we're Koreans, we'll focus on the Korean history. If you wish to know the Japanese perspective on the dispute, you can go visit the wiki page on the island)
During King Jijeong of Silla's reign (year 512) the general of Silla Lee-Sabu conquered Usanguk(우산국, current day Ulleungdo). As Dokdo(Usando at that time) was a part of Usanguk, it was automatically claimed for Silla. 'Usando(우산도)' means high mountain, and it was named for looking like a mountain above the sea. Silla's territory is later conquered by the Goryeo dynasty.
Dokdo is later features in the geography book during the Joseon dynasty, 세종실록지리지. It is written that 우산(Dokdo) and 무릉(Ulleungdo), the two islands are in the east sea and if the weather is clear you can see the islands from each other. During the early Joseon times, Dokdo was called 삼봉도(An island made of three peaks) because when seen from Ulleongdo, three peaks were significant.
During the late Joseon dynasty, around Dokdo lived animals called '가지(강치)'. They're a type of sea lion. According to Sin Gyeongjun's 동국문헌비고, The 가지 was a 'big creature in the sea shaped like a cow with red eyes and no tail', and 'Useful to make leather products'. As the 가지 around Dokdo became famous it was also known as '가지도'. 가지 became extinct after the Japanese hunted around 1400 가지 for the span of 8 years during the Japanese occupation.
During the Daehan Empire times, there were a lot of Japanese coming into Ulleungdo illegally. the Daehan Empire government in the year 1900 put Dokdo under Gangwon Do(강원도) as '석도(Rock island)'. This order is the '고종황제 칙령 41조'(Korean Imperial Decree No. 41). But in 1905, the Japanese thought that Dokdo was very valuable and incorporated Dokdo into their territory. The name the Japanese gave Dokdo was Takeshima. This incorporation was not agreed with Korea and was just taken by the Japanese.
These facts show that Dokdo is Korean territory! Of course, the Japanese have their opinions and claims as well. However since we're a Korean blog we reviewed the Korean perspective on things. Like we said in the start, if you want to know the Japanese claims too, visit the wiki page, it explains the problem pretty well. In Korea, we have a song about Dokdo. Sometimes in school we dance to this song (For talent shows etc.) And there are some flash mobs that dance to the dokdo song too. Here's a video of the song! (It's famous among Koreans. We probably have heard it at least one time during our childhood). The song has a lot of stuff about Dokdo history and stuff.
We would be so grateful if you reblog this post to raise awareness about Dokdo! Thanks for reading our post😍😍
♥Dokdo Videos♥
🏝The Dokdo song, the new version. It changed a bit from the first version I learned as a kid XD
🏝Dokdo Flash mob. I remember doing this dance in Elementary school XD. Since I was on Student council I had to do it! I forgot all the moves though..
🏝A video about Dokdo made by the Korean Ministry of foreign affairs.
🏝Dokdo Themed Vocabulary List🏝
❥독도: Dokdo
❥땅: Land
❥영토: Territory
❥분쟁: Dispute
❥법: Law
❥주권: sovereignty
❥주장: assertion
❥근거: reason
❥왕: King
❥왕조: Dynasty
❥동: East
❥서: West
❥남: South
❥북: North
❥바다: Sea
❥섬: Island
❥울릉도: Ulleungdo
❥돌: Rock
❥지리: Geography
❥역사: History
❥노래: Song
❥춤: Dance
🏝Credits: 독도연구소, 독도박물관, KBS
🏝Photo credits: 독도연구소,
https://www.google.com/amp/m.kmib.co.kr/view_amp.asp%3farcid=0013860247
Post by Admin Do, Admin Sun
Edited/translated by Admin Sun
