Yeonpyeong Naval Battle hero’s visit to Dokdo islets

This writer visited Ulreung Island and Dokdo islets on Thursday and Friday last week. I was worried if I fail again to realize my time-honored dream of taking a footstep at Korea’s easternmost islets due to heavy monsoon rain that continued to drench the central region of the Korean Peninsula the previous day. The journey had a happy ending. It rained on and off, but by the time the boat departed Donghae Port in Gangwon Province, the skies cleared miraculously. The sea was fairly calm with a max height of wave reaching 1 meter.

I felt as if the sea was calm because the soul of sergeant first class Han Sang-gook, a hero from the second Yeonpyeong Naval Battle in June 2002, was in our company. The boat, which carried 30 members of the Navy Development Committee who were visiting Dokdo, was the Han Sang-gook, a new battleship with Patrol Killer Guided missiles of the South Korean Navy. The late Han, chief pilot of the naval speedboat Chamsoori 357, continued to hold the steering gear even after being short through his chest. The Navy named PKG Nos. 1 – 6 after the six naval heroes, including Yoon Yeong-ha, Han Sang-gook, Cho Cheon-hyeong, Hwang Do-hyeon, Seo Hoo-won and Park Dong-hyeok, respectively, to honor them. The Han Sang-gook cruised through the waters in the East Sea at a speed of nearly 40 nautical miles (about 72 kilometers per hour).

Japan constantly claims its sovereignty over the Dokdo islets. Last year, Japanese patrol boats approached the rocky outcroppings on as many as 99 occasions. This year, they approached a total of 57 occasions as of July. The distance between Ulreung Island and Dokdo is 87 kilometers, far shorter than the 157 kilometers between Dokdo and Japan’s Oki Islands. If a South Korean naval vessel departs from its east coast, however, it can reach Dokdo long after Japan’s patrol boat arrives. Likewise, Ulreung Island is in a critical location for defense of the Dokdo islets. As the phase 1 development of Sadong Port on Ulreung has been completed, the Han Sang-gook, the latest model of battleship, now can anchor at the island. Considering North Korea’s threat, a phase 2 project should be sped up to ensure that a bigger naval boat can dock at the port.

The Han Sang-gook is the second South Korean naval boat ever to have anchored at Dokdo. The Jeong Geung-mo, the same class as the Han Sang-gook, visited the islets for the first time in May this year. “We are proud that we successfully completed a drill to dock the boat on the Korean islets of Dokdo,” said Lieutenant commander Chung Hee-nam, the captain of the Han Sang-gook. “We have gained confidence in our capacity to protect our territory.” Dokdo is not lonely islets. This writer came to gain clear recognition that the slogan “Dokdo is Korean territory,” because our naval battleships can now dock at the islets. As an airport is planned to be constructed on Ulreung Island, South Korea is set to boost its defense over the Dokdo islets as well.

Editorial Writer Bhang Hyeong-nam