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 History
of Dokdo |
It was in 512, the 13th year of king Jizeung's reign of the
Silla Dynasty when Dokdo and Uleungdo were incorporated into
the Silla territory. There is a record that a general named
Yi Sa-bu of the Silla Dynasty period conquered Uleungdo and
reverted it to the Silla Dynasty, and the Dynasty received special
products from Uleungdo every year.
When the general Yi Sa-bu disciplined Uleungdo, where the
residents were wild and tough, he invented an idea to get
them in an easier way. He let a lot of scarecrows shipped
on boats and approached the coast of Uleungdo. "Unless
you surrender, I will let all these wild lions run into and
kill you." By his threat, the residents of the island
easily surrendered and paid tribute every year.
According to a true record of the Joseon Dynasty, it is recorded
that Dokdo and Uleungdo are located to the east of Uljin county
and in the middle of the east sea, and Dokdo is to be seen
from Uleungdo in sunny days because it is not far away from
Uleungdo. Dokdo is also called Usanguk.
According to another record of the Joseon Dynasty, when the
residents of Dokdo were asked to move to Uleungdo in 1439,
the 21th year of king Sejong's reign, they refused it.
During king Seongjong's reign, Dokdo was called Sambongdo,
and during king Sukjong's reign it was called Jasando. It
was also called Gajido during king Jeongjo's reign.
There is a record to say that when the Japanese fishermen
were revealed to do fishing in the coastal sea of Dokdo and
Uleungdo in 1693, the 19th year of king Sukjong's reign, a
Korean fisherman named An Yong-bok went to Japan and affirmed
Dokdo is the Korean territory with the request to ban the
Japanese fishermen's doing fishery in the neighboring sea
of Dokdo and Uleungdo.
Since 1876 the Japanese fishermen again appeared and did
fishery in the coastal sea of Dokdo and Uleungdo, the Joseon
Dynasty made a severe protest and took apology from Japan
in 1881, the 18th year of king Gojong's reign. During the
Joseon Dynasty, Dokdo was clearly recognized on the basis
of geographical knowledge and belonged to the local administration
system.
Since August 15, 1945, when Korea was liberated from Japanese
ruling, the Korean government allowed to do academic research
on Dokdo and in January, 1952, president Lee Seung-man proclaimed
a presidential declaration on the dominion over the coastal
sea and involved Dokdo with the peace line.
On April 20, 1953, Hong Sun-chil and other 33 men organized
a voluntary guard of Dokdo and expelled the Japanese people
who landed on Dokdo without permission and kept the duty until
1956 when they took over their voluntary guard to the Uleung
police station.
On August 15, 1954, for the first time a lighthouse was built
in Dokdo and informed it to the every foreign country and
a map of Dokdo drawn on a scale of 1 to 3,000 was finished
from December, 1961 to February, 1962. The Korean History
Society published A Research on Uleungdo and Dokdo in 1978
and the Korean government made maps of Dokdo drawn on a scale
of 1 to 1,000 and of 1 to 5,000.
So it is clear that Dokdo has been the Korean territory since
512, the 13th year of kin Jizeung' reign of the Silla Dynasty,
and the Japanese map expert, Hayasi Shihei(1738-93) also admits
Dokdo is the Korean territory in his book, Samguktonglamdoseol
written in 1785.
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The name of Dokdo
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Usanguk, previous name of Uleungdo,
which was established by the natives of the island was
reverted to Shilla in the early 6th century(512) and
it is recorded in the historical documents of the Silla
Dynasty.
When the name Usanguk was changed to the name Uleungdo,
the name Usan moved to an annexed island(Dokdo) which
became to get the name since. In the true records of
history during the Joseon Dynasty there are statements
that Usando and Uleungdo stand in the middle of the
east sea in Uljin county.
Dokdo was called Sambongdo, Usando and Gajido, during
the Joseon Dynasty and it was described with the name
Usan beside Uleungdo in the textbook of 1899. In 1900
Dokdo became to belong to Ganwon province by command
of king Gojong.
The name Dokdo was first used in 1906 by magistrate
of Uleung county, Shim Hong-taek, and according to the
reorganization of administration district in 1914, Dokdo
has belonged to North Gyeongsang province until today.
The meaning of Dokdo doesn't say 'lonely island' or
'desolate island', but mean 'dolseom(stone or rock island)'.
Still the residents in Dokdo pronounce the island as
'dokseom' or 'dolseom'.
While Japan calls Dokdo 'dakesima' or 'massima', the
French whaleboat named it as Liancourt Rock coming after
the ship's name when they found it first in 1849 and
the British warship named it Hornet Rock also coming
after the ship's name and registered in their sea map
in 1885.
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