Politicians, citizens call for stronger action on Japan’s territorial claims


The leader of Korea’s ruling Grand National Party said Sunday that he has asked the government to station Marines on Dokdo to strengthen the country’s sovereignty of the set of rokcy islets claimed by Japan.

Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, the GNP chairman, also urged the government to drop its “quiet diplomacy” and instead strongly counter Japan’s repeated territorial claims.

“We have now reached a point where we need to take actions to reinforce our sovereignty over Dokdo,” he told a group of reporters at the party’s headquarters in Seoul. 

The politician said he has already discussed the matter with ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

The defense chief welcomed the idea, while the foreign minister said he would not object to it, he said.

Currently, Korea has only police coast guards stationed on Dokdo.

The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae, however, appeared lukewarm to the proposal.

An official there said the office will consider it as a long term agenda. In other words, it is not considering it now.

“What difference does it make,” other than adding fuel to the already high tensions between Korea and Japan, the official was quoted by Yonhap News as saying.

Rep. Hong’s proposal came as tensions escalated between the two neighboring countries just a day before Korea marks the 66th anniversary of its liberation from 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.

In recent months, Korea and Japan have locked horns over a slew of thorny issues that range from Japan’s authorizing of school textbooks that glorify its imperialistic past and a defense white paper claiming Dokdo as its territory, to the failed attempt by some Japanese lawmakers to visit Ulleungdo, a Korean island near Dokdo, despite the Korean government’s disapproval.

Korean politicians planned a flurry of visits to Dokdo.

Rep. Hong, along with the minor opposition Liberty Forward Party Chairman Byun Ung-jun, intended to fly to the rocky islands but postponed the trip due to bad weather.

Sohn Hak-kyu, chairman of the major opposition Democratic Party, is scheduled to visit Dokdo on Monday morning and release a statement condemning the Japanese administration.

Their planned visits follow a decision by the National Assembly’s special committee on Dokdo to hold regular meeting at the islets.

The congregation was to take place on Thursday but was postponed due to heavy rain. DP lawmaker Jang Se-hwan last week submitted a bill to promote the special committee to a standing status.

Netizens are also moving to proclaim Korea’s ownership of Dokdo. According to local media, a group of Internet users with more than 7,500 members announced that it would conduct a DDoS attack on www.2ch.net, Japan’s largest community website.

According to the group, the “invasion” will be made by a substantial number of users by directly visiting the site.

The same strategy was adopted on March 1, Korea’s independence movement day, last year, when the netizens shut down 30 of the 33 bulletin boards on the site. The site has one of the most hostile articles about Koreans, the group explained.

Japanese counterparts are suspected of having attacked the websites of Cheong Wa Dae and VANK, a civic group aimed at promoting Korea overseas, but have seen little success. An American business group in charge of the website’s security has reportedly referred the case to the FBI.

“This will be a cyber war,” an operator of the group was quoted as saying to a local daily.

The Korea Tobacco Retailer Association said it would not display Japanese beer and cigarettes at its 142 subsidiary unions with 140,000 members nationwide. The owners of retail shops said they would not sell the tobacco Mild Seven and beer Asahi in protest.

Many events have been held nationwide to mark the independence from the Japanese and encourage patriotism.

A group of 80 university students are planning a Japanese product boycott and other protests at Dokdo on Monday while 50 former underwater demolition unit members are to start a relay swim across the East Sea from Uljin of North Gyeongsang Province to Dokdo on the same day.

Twitter users are also encouraging fellow users to hang the Korean national flag on Monday. Some of them are to hold a special meeting in Daegu to reproach the Japanese government on the Dokdo issue. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security is also distributing a free online application to display the flag on their Facebook accounts.

“Such events will raise awareness toward and remind people about Dokdo and its sovereignty,” an organizer of an event said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)