Shows Koreans’ interaction with islets over 1,500 years


A state-run history institute opened a museum dedicated to Dokdo in Seoul on Friday to showcase its 60 years of research findings and help promote understanding of the strategic and ecologic significance of the tiny East Sea islets.

The facility, runs by the Northeast Asia History Foundation, presents maps, historical documents, charts, images and press records in chronological order. They were categorized into history and natural environment sections.

The opening comes amid heightened tension over Japan’s fresh claim to Korea’s easternmost territory. Tokyo illicitly seized the islets in 1905 before a full-fledged annexation of the Korean Peninsula. Seoul sees the claim as a vestige of imperialism and Dokdo as a symbol of its dependence in 1945. 

“We’ve mostly used Korean records and data to show how the Korean people have recognized and managed Dokdo over the last 1,500 years, instead of being aware of Japan and displaying articles to refute its logic,” said Jung Young-mee, a researcher at the Dokdo Research Institute, who led a press tour to the museum. The institute is affiliated with the foundation.

To cater to foreign visitors, all exhibits entail English descriptions and some key artifacts are translated in Japanese and Chinese.

They were dexterously incorporated into digital interactive devices and video technology. The foundation also screens a 10-minute animated film at a four-dimensional theater.

Among the signature displays is a 1:120 scale model of Dokdo in the “natural environment” section. Other materials are designed to highlight the similarities and differences between Dokdo and the mainland in terms of geography, geology, climate, marine environment and ecology, Jung said.

“The new museum will be a base to provide truthful information on Dokdo not only for Korea but for the world,” said Chung Jae-jeong, president of the Seoul-based foundation, at an opening ceremony.

To provide more accurate and comprehensive data, the foundation has worked with a host of state agencies, local governments, educational institutions and civic groups. They include the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology, Cultural Heritage Administration, Kyungpook National University and Voluntary Agency Network of Korea.

The country runs another Dokdo museum on the islets’ neighboring Ulleung Island, which was established in 1997 with the help of the Samsung Foundation.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)