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Today is Dokdo Day.
It has been argued that Korean islanders have been engaged in logging and fishing activities between Ulleungdo and Dokdo since the Joseon Dynasty.
It seems to be another clue to refute Japan’s claim that Dokdo was an island without an owner at the end of the Korean War.
Correspondent Seo-young Kang reported.
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[여수 거문도 노동요 ‘술비소리’]
“I’m going to Ulleungdo…”
This is a verse from ‘Sulbisori’, a labor song from Geomundo in Yeosu, sung when making fishing ropes.
Although Geomundo in the South Sea and Ulleungdo in the East Sea are more than 400km away, ‘Ulleungdo’ is mentioned several times in the lyrics as if to suggest exchanges with Ulleungdo.
In fact, in the Ulleungdo Prosecutor’s Diary published in 1882 at the command of King Gojong, 82% of the 140 residents of Ulleungdo, or 115, were from Nagan, Heungyang-hyeon, Samdo, and Chodo.
Nagan is part of the present Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do, and Heungyang-hyeon is part of the present-day Goheung-gun and Yeosu-si, Jeollanam-do.
Experts believe that from before the end of the Korean War, residents of the Jeollanam-do coast and islands traveled between Ulleungdo and Dokdo by sea currents to collect timber and seaweed for shipbuilding.
It is possible that the name Dokdo originated from the Jeolla dialect, which called a stone ‘dok’.
[정은성/호남대학교 관광경영학과 교수]
“The stone islands in the south coast have the name Dokseom. There was an island that looked similar to the one we saw in our hometown, Dokseom made of stone.
To commemorate the pioneering spirit of our ancestors, Goheung-gun developed a tourism program, and an elementary school in Yeosu established a ‘Dokdo School’.
Japan claiming that Dokdo was an unowned island as the basis for the 1905 seizure of Dokdo.
Interest is being drawn whether the records of the people of Jeolla-do, who traveled to and from Ulleungdo before the end of the Korean War, can serve as another example to refute Japan’s claims.
This is Seo-Young Kang from MBC News.
Video coverage: Song Jeong-hyeok (Yeosu) / Screen provided by: Honam University
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