Ad asserts S. Korean claims in isle dispute in Australian paper

Thursday 14th August, 04:57 PM JST

SYDNEY —

An advertisement asserting South Korea’s sovereignty over disputed islets it controls that are also claimed by Japan appeared in an Australian newspaper on Thursday. The full-page advertisement was taken out in The Australian newspaper by an organization known only as ForTheNextGeneration.com. The advertisement calls on the Japanese government to acknowledge South Korea’s territorial right to the pair of islets, which are located in the Sea of Japan, which South Korea calls the East Sea.

The islets, which include surrounding reefs and cover a total area of 210,000 square meters, are called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. The advertisement also says South Korea and Japan must ensure accurate historical facts are passed down to the next generation and urges future cooperation between the two countries to facilitate peace and prosperity in the region. The territorial dispute over the islets escalated earlier this year when Japan’s education ministry announced plans to include the country’s claim to sovereignty over the islets in a new educational guideline for junior high schools. The move sparked outrage in South Korea and led the government to recall its ambassador from Tokyo.

Kyodo

Latest 15 of 58 Total Comments Show All

bimyou at 03:18 PM JST - 18th August

ProudKoreanGuy - No matter what Japanese thinks, Dokodo was, is, and will always be Korea's, thanks.

Yes I totally agree with you which is why Korea, a united nation member, should put this matter to bed by proving it in front of the International community.
OssanULTRA at 12:00 AM JST - 19th August

SKorea obviously doesn't have the courage to settle this dispute at he ICJ. SKorea obviously doesn't have confidence in it's "evidence" to win the argument in an objective forum. Every excuse put forth so far by Korea supporters have been nothing but lame excuses combined with chest beating and repeating their position ad infinitum. My very suggestion to settle at the ICJ comes under attack, despite the reality that if all this "evidence" SKorea has is true, they would win and put and end to the matter. Right now I think think the Rocks ought to be given to Japan, who should assign it back to a live fire training ground for the United States and we will bomb those rocks till there's nothing left.
ProudKoreanGuy at 02:50 AM JST - 19th August

Yes I totally agree with you which is why Korea, a united nation member, should put this matter to bed by proving it in front of the International community.

I like how you Japanese summon ICJ whenever it's to your advantage - but, no surprise there. Clearly you are counting on the fact that ICJ will side with Japan because it will favor a richer nation that has more influence over it. All I can say is that Korea will protect its territory from being stolen by by those who think that they can get away with it. By the way, Demado which you Japanese call Tsushima Island should belong to Korea, too. I knew it was really fishy when Fukuda came at Lee's inauguration acted like he was one of Lee's long forgotten best friends. Unfortunately Fukuda only reinforced one the biggest negative stereotypes of Japanese by Koreans and other Asians - that of being treacherous backstabbers. So, let's see how successful Japan is with its attempt at shamelessly stealing Korea's Dokdo. Try it, Nippon!
usaexpat at 05:23 AM JST - 19th August

ProudKoreanGuy I appreciate your nationalistic fervor on the issue of the Liancourt rocks but as others have said until the issue is settled by the ICJ the islands remain disputed. As for your claim over Tsushima maybe you need a little historical context: Tsushima has been ruled by Japan since the 6th century. What would you like to claim next, Iki Shima or maybe Goto? The most Korean thing about Tsushima may be the South Korean tourists who flock there or maybe all of the garbage from South Korea that washes up on the beaches.
ProudKoreanGuy at 05:48 AM JST - 19th August

Tsushima has been ruled by Japan since the 6th century.

And Dokdo has been ruled by Korea even long before 6th century.
usaexpat at 05:50 AM JST - 19th August

Proudkoreanguy, claiming Tsushima only makes more enemies if Dokdo is your cause. You are correct I use Liancourt Rocks because it's neutral and the land is disputed. My honest oppinion is that the Korean's probably have a better case because posession is 90% of ownership. That said your words and the crazy protestors who bit their fingers on Tsushima only weaken Korea's case. As for the lands America stole please name them, we have no colonies. I believe we liberated Korea after wwII rather than returning it to Japan, not to mention our intervention in your civil war. There's an old saying that you catch more flys with honey than with vinegar, Korea might want to try this approach rather than alienating the rest of the world.
bimyou at 10:40 AM JST - 19th August

ProudKoreanGuy - Clearly you are counting on the fact that ICJ will side with Japan because it will favor a richer nation that has more influence over it.

This is from the wiki

"The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace"

Now if your claim is true then there maybe no need for the existence of ICJ or United Nations even. And I would suggest Korea pull out its membership since the UN contains a bunch of cronies who only favor the richer nations.
dogbert at 10:50 AM JST - 19th August

"SK ultra-nationalists" Do they have black vans too? And sing in praise of King Sejong? And visit whatever radical Confucianist shrine too?

Well, you see in Japan, America and Europe, ultranationalist/xenophobic racist groups are a fringe minority who are looked upon by the majority with disdain, ridicule and contempt. The majority of people in America, Germany and Japan regard the KKK, Neo Nazis and Uyoku as lunatic idiots.

However, in Korea, ultranationalist/xenophobic racist groups are the majority. The average Korean elementary school student has received more racist/nationalistic brainwashing by the age of 10 than a Neo Nazi or Grand Wizard has by age 40. Also, where as nationalist xenophobia is looked down upon by the majority of people in Japan, America and Europe, Koreans actually praise and worship those who scream about how Koreans are the superior divine race and yell insults about other nations. That's the huge difference between Korea and first world nations.
dogbert at 10:54 AM JST - 19th August

Obviously, SK's Dokdo advertisement annoys Japan. This is funny.

I agree. It is funny because only Koreans seem to think that Japan is annoyed. Other than that, Japan, and the rest of the world, doesn't even care whether or not every person in Korea would become a millionaire tomorrow or if the entire nation went bankrupt.

Funny how Koreans desperately want to believe that the whole world obsesses about them. I guess it's the inferiority complex. On the other hand, Korea seems to obsess 24 hours/day about Japan or any other nation to whom they feel jealousy. Koreans are amusing to watch.
dogbert at 11:01 AM JST - 19th August

The reason why Korea refuses to take their case to the ICJ is that Koreans are incapable of, let alone willing to try, understanding the concept of third party arbitration as a means of law enforcement.

Just look at how Korean society views the concepts of "law" or "standardized ethical code". In Korea, respect for the concept of "law and ethics" is basically non-existent. I mean, look at how success in politics, business, education, or sports is obtained in Korea...through bribery, cheating, lying, or plagiarism.

Koreans are so paranoid and have these conspiracy theories that settling this dispute about Dokdo in court would be meaningless or detrimental to the Korean side. The reason? Because, the Koreans are projecting their own ideas and cultural views of the law onto the international scene. Since the law is a complete joke and because judicial process/review amounts to jack squat in Korea, Koreans think that the same holds true in the international courts of justice and law in other countries. Koreans live in a society in which they see the law being a totally useless means for awarding justice and achievement. Koreans grow up seeing that in their society, the one who achieves justice or gets what he/she wants is not the person who obeys the law..it's the person who screams the loudest or has the most money. That's why Koreans hold these outrageous beliefs that Japan, being the stronger and richer nation, will somehow "win" in a Judicial Court System because that's how things are done in the Korean judicial system.

It's very sad..I know, but the reality.
ProudKoreanGuy at 01:43 PM JST - 19th August

This is from the wiki

"The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace"

Now if your claim is true then there maybe no need for the existence of ICJ or United Nations even. And I would suggest Korea pull out its membership since the UN contains a bunch of cronies who only favor the richer nations.

Well, you must live in utopic world, but if you really believe that UN has lived up to its lofty claims in impartiality since its inception, then..., well, you must live in utopic world.
nigelboy at 02:19 PM JST - 19th August

And Dokdo has been ruled by Korea even long before 6th century.

Yes. Usan=Dokdo claim where the "joke" begins. But of course, Koreans don't get the "joke" because virtually all of them never actually compare the actually geographic location of Ulleungdo/Jukdo/Liancourt Rocks versus that of ancient Korean maps.

To simply summarize, the three islands from west to east are positioned in this order.

A..~-2 km -~.B....................................~--About 90 km--~......................................C

(A.Ulleungdo B. Jukdo C. Liancourt Rocks)

Ancient Korean Maps show 2 islands like this.

A...B

Based on the current map, a normal SANE person will conclude that

A=Ulleungdo and B=Jukdo.

But NO. Not the Koreans. Korean logic is B=Liancourt Rocks.

So what happened to Jukdo which is the nearest island east of Ulleungdo???
ProudKoreanGuy at 02:24 PM JST - 19th August

Yes. Usan=Dokdo claim where the "joke" begins.

And Koreans will hold fast on to that "joke", thanks.
OssanULTRA at 09:32 PM JST - 19th August

"Well, you must live in utopic world, but if you really believe that UN has lived up to its lofty claims in impartiality since its inception, then..., well, you must live in utopic world."

If it wasn't for the UN, South Korea wouldn't exist today. The entire Korean Penninsula would be the DPRK. I'm sure you're welcome.
usaexpat at 11:53 PM JST - 19th August

ProudKoreanGuy: I'm still waiting for a list of stolen lands that the US occupies. Do you count our troops in South Korea as an occupying force or a security force to save your bacon from crazy Kim? Back to the matter at hand The rest of the world will continue to refer to the islands as disputed until the matter is resolved in some sort of international fashion. If you are so skeptical of the ICJ than how about direct negotians with Japan and a 3rd party country. The 3rd party has to be neutral to the claim and not be a major ally of Japan or Korea.