Public anger in Korea rises over Japan`s Dokdo claim

Public anger rose in Korea Wednesday over Japan’s renewed territorial claim to the Dokdo islets, compounded by Korean sympathy and support for their country`s former colonial ruler in the wake of Japan`s devastating earthquake.

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan held a demonstration in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul the same day. “We strongly condemn Japan`s authorization of middle school textbooks and attempt to steal Dokdo. The Japanese government should immediately correct this and respect historical truth,” it said.

Five civic groups from Korea, China and Japan held a news conference in front of the embassy, including the Asia Peace and History Education Network and a Hiroshima Prefecture-based civic network on Japanese textbooks.

Park Ki-tae, director of the cyber diplomatic group Voluntary Agency Network Korea, said, “We offered support for victims of the earthquake but Japan is turning back the clock to restore its colonial order.”

The group began the “21st-century Yi Sun-shin Project” on its Web site to promote correct data on Japanese textbooks. “Humanitarian assistance is a different matter from the textbook issue and we will keep supporting quake-stricken Japan,” Park said.

North Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Gwan-yong issued a statement on behalf of mayors and governors nationwide saying, “Even as it was suffering from the devastating earthquake, the Japanese government intentionally distorted textbooks and explicitly expressed its ambition for Dokdo. We urge Japan to correct historical distortion and join efforts for world peace.”

North Gyeongsang will also speed up its plan to build a breakwater and lodging facility on the islets to reinforce Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo.

Political parties also joined hands to denounce Japan’s provocation. Fourteen politicians including Rep. Hwang Woo-yeo of the ruling Grand National Party, Rep. Kim Young-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party, and Rep. Park Sun-young of the minor conservative Liberty Forward Party urged Seoul to respond to Tokyo`s challenge in a “moderate but resolute manner.”

They proposed construction of an offshore runway on Dokdo and operation of submarines.

Rep. Park also urged President Lee Myung-bak to visit Dokdo.

The ruling party will request that the government call in the Japanese ambassador to Seoul and speed up repair of the aging heliport and breakwater on Dokdo.

Democratic Party Rep. Kang Chang-il, who is also a special envoy for a committee on protecting Dokdo, said, “The Japanese government should immediately stop its act of betrayal against Korean sympathy for quake-stricken Japan.”

The committee will hold a meeting April 4 on adopting a resolution blasting Japan’s sovereignty claim to Dokdo and textbook with distorted history.

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