Dokdo Pier to be Repaired and New Weaponry to be Provided to Dokdo Police

The National Police Agency (NPA) announced Wednesday that it is considering “repairing the Dokdo pier to allow the approach of a 500-ton ship in case average citizens are allowed to visit the islets.”

The Dokdo pier was built in 1997 and underwent repair in 2003, but needs further construction to allow visitors on the islets.

The NPA is also planning to repair the handrails along the pier’s passageways and build a shelter in preparation for bad weather conditions.

In addition, the NPA decided to replace the garrison’s old .50-caliber heavy machine gun with the K-6 machine gun, a new model made in Korea, by this April.

The NPA is reviewing plans to expand the Dokdo barracks to accommodate more guards than the current limit of about a platoon.

The NPA’s commissioner-general, Huh Joon-Young, said Wednesday, “The Commissioner-General will go wherever there are police officers. I don’t have specific plans to visit Dokdo yet, but I can always visit the islets.”

It now seems probable that the head of Korea’s national security will pay a visit to Dokdo for the first time since NPA officers started guarding the islets in April 1956.

needjung@donga.com