Search Results for: dokdo

Occidentalism is reporting that Korean tourists spray painted Dokto graffiti on a cultural landmark the John Lennon Wall in Prague. Apparently some Czech citizens are upset about the graffiti and spray painted over the Korean flag the Czech word for cowards.

I think it is kind of childish to spray paint graffiti like this in a prominent location in a foreign country because the Dokto issue is a regional political issue between Korea and Japan that has nothing to do with the Czech Republic. It would similarly be childish of me if I went to Cheongyecheon Stream in Seoul and painted one of the walls there with graffiti against illegal Mexican immigration into America. This issue has absolutely nothing to do with Korea because it is a regional political issue between the US and Mexico. It is the same thing with the Dokto controversy. It is one thing to fill a subway station in Korea with anti-Japanese pictures drawn by school children; but quite another to do something similar to this in a foreign country.

I tend to agree with Curzon’s comment on the whole Dokto controversy:

Korea occupied the rocks; Japan disputes their ownership. Russia occupies southern Sakhalin and the Kurils; Japan disputes their ownership. Somehow, the stoic and steely nature of the Russian personality to resist worldwide lobbying, cutting off pinkies, and making themselves look absurd in the eyes of the world. How ever do they contain themselves?

I feel that Korea does have the strongest case for ownership of Dokto; plus they physically occupy the islets. Short of war nothing is going to move Korea off those two rocks and Japan is not going to start a war over Dokto and both governments know this. Yet Dokto remains a great source for Korean governmental leaders in political trouble at home, to stoke Korean nationalism in order to skew their own short comings. The same phenomenon but on a much smaller scale is why the Japanese government doesn’t let the Takeshima issue fade either because politicians in power want to appease the Japanese fishing industry. In the end it is a wash and both governments look as stupid as this graffiti in Prague.

The Korean Eco-Nazis are trying to evict two dogs from the disputed Dokto Islets:

But now, the “guardian dogs’’ of the islets _ Komi and Mongi _ are likely to be expelled as the Cultural Heritage Administration has officially requested that the island police remove the animal.

The administration has said that the five-year-old dogs are damaging the eco system of Dokdo by killing fork-tailed petrels and black-tailed gulls.

The administration discovered that the dogs have also eaten the birds’ eggs. The black-tailed gulls are designated by the government as a precious natural treasure.

I find this so stupid because there is no way those two dogs can eat all the birds on Dokto. I have been to Dokto myself and I can confirm that is going to take a heck of a lot more than two dogs to eat all the birds on those two rocks. The amount of birds that nest on Dokto was one of the first things I noticed about the place. There is definitely an impressive amount of birds that live there.

I got to give the Coast Guard credit they are not giving up the two dogs without a fight:

Despite the decision by the cultural institution, police do not have an immediate plan for the dogs’ removal.

Instead, they will ask members of the coast guard to set up stricter guidelines concerning the animal.

“They are the guardian dogs of the coast guard and part of their family. They were born on the island and were raised there, too. We will keep the dogs with us,’’ said an official at the police agency, on condition of anonymity.

“The dogs have been our friends and they are loved by tourists as well,’’ Seo Jung-pyo, a head of the coast guards, said on the phone.

Give these coast guard kids a break out there. Dokto has got to be a horribly boring assignment at least let these guys keep their two dogs.

Plus I always got to roll my eyes when I hear Korean environmentalists talk about protecting the environment here in Korea. Something that just constantly frustrates me during my travels, is all the litter left by picnickers and hikers along the Korean streams and mountain trails. I still have never read anything from Korean environmentalists condemning this, yet they go after these two dogs.

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Check out the GI Korea Dokto Photo Album for some great pictures from these infamous islets.

I just knew some how Dokto would come up during Liberation Day. I just didn’t expect it to be celebrated in this way:

Korean telecommunications companies’ plan to set up a base station for mobile phones on Dokdo island this month to mark the 60th anniversary of liberation from Japanese rule has been delayed, SK Telecom and KTF said yesterday.

Celebrating Liberation Day by putting up a cell phone tower on Dokto. Only in Korea.

According to the Stars and Stripes a group of local protestors will continue to sit at the site of last Friday’s traffic accident. This group feels USFK doesn’t do enough to prevent traffic accidents:

Kang said he’s tired of U.S. military promises that officials will work to avoid accidents. He wants U.S. leaders to “take substantial measures” and “stick to them.”

One idea, he said, is to restrict the movement of bigger military vehicles during peak traffic times.

I can guarantee that 2ID’s traffic accident rate is well below the Korean average. I have seen all kinds of accidents on these roads up here including one just yesterday I saw where a car took out a moped. 2ID puts a lot of emphasis in driver’s training. You have to go through a full week 40 hour block of instruction before being allowed to even take the driver’s test. When the soldiers take the driver’s test guess who tests them? A Korean official. The Korean official is the one that grades the tests and decides who passes and receives a learners permit. The US Army does not pass people on driver’s test the Koreans do.

Then after receiving the learners permit the soldier still has to receive 8 hours of road testing from the unit’s Master Driver before becoming officially licensed. It is by no means an easy process to get a license. Then just to dispatch a truck to drive off post there is a whole other set of procedures you have to go through that is not easy.

Then there are the procedures you have to go through for convoy operations. I once sat in a 4 hour convoy briefing with the Assistant Division Commander. Every driver and passenger in the convoy had to brief the General on his or her’s duties during the convoy. You really have to see one of these convoy briefings to realize how elaborate they are.

Then Mr. Kang’s idea to restrict 2ID vehicle movements during peak traffic times is not a good idea either. The traffic stays congested up here from eight in the morning till about seven at night. That would mean the military would have to work at night. I’m sure all the business and club owners in Dongducheon would love that. Anyway, at night accidents will still occur because of the number of drunk drivers on the road. In my unit there was a HMMWV that was hit by a drunk driver early one morning during a convoy movement when the drunk driver crossed the median. The drunk driver died in the wreck and seriously injured some soldiers. No headline news on that wreck.

I’m of the opinion that if military traffic is banned during the day then all the big trucks on the road should be banned during the day. I have seen numerous accidents involving the big Korean trucks but they don’t get put on the front page of the paper.

Here is something else I disagree with the protestors on:

Kang also blasted the process that South Koreans must use to request compensation from the U.S. military after an accident. Many South Koreans become frustrated, he said, because it’s too difficult — and takes too long — to fill out and submit paperwork for a claim he said usually doesn’t result in enough compensation. “The Korean victims cannot be compensated properly for all the damages,” Kang said.

Having worked a manuever damage control position here in Korea I can tell you we pay out big bucks to people for any property damage they receive due to 2ID vehicle accidents. It is by no means a difficult process. This is just propaganda Mr. Kang is throwing out there to smear the Army with.

What is interesting about this group of protestors is that there is only 2-4 of them out there when I drove by the other day. Not exactly a big following. In fact this whole thing has amazingly not been blown up out of proportion compared to 2002. Probably the fact she was an old ajumma in the highway where there is no crosswalk has something to do with it compared to two girls going to a birthday party getting crushed by a tracked vehicle in 2002. Though they to were walking on the highway.

I think a big factor that has prevented this from getting blown out of proportion was the quick action by the Army to show regret for what happened. Even President Bush gave his condolescences to President Roh the next day.

Also in 2002, it was only two years since the historic North and South summit in Pyongyang and many South Koreans began to feel the North really wasn’t that bad and that the US was the primary cause of tension on the peninsula.

Plus in 2002 you had the World Cup going on that drove nationalism to never before seen levels. This all combined into the xenophobic anti-American Hatefest that was 2002.

Now three years later it is obvious that North Korea is not a misunderstood cousin but a gangster state with their constant brinkmanship, defector testimonies, and lack of reciprocal benefits for all the aid that South Korea gives them.

Also the US is serious about removing troops from Korea. Many Koreans will say they want to troops to leave Korea but when it begins to happen people begin to drag their feet because the reality of no USFK begins to sink in. Even if they don’t want to admit it many people here in Korea still want us around.

Finally Korea’s xenophobia has been focused more on Japan than the US anymore due to the Dokdo and history textbook disputes. All of these things combined is what I believe has led to just 4 people protesting instead of the ten of thousands in 2002. Then again it is still only a week after the accident. Still plenty of time to begin a US Hatefest 2005.

According to the Korea Times visitors to the Dokto Islands have been damaging the ecosystem there.

“After making the Dokdo islets more accessible, some visitors have damaged the environment by violating a few rules. It is deplorable,’’ said Yoo Hong-joon, head of the administration, in a statement released to the media.

The number of visitors has increased since the government lifted restrictions on access to the islands in March in a move to reaffirm sovereignty over the tiny islets. The change in policy came after Japan’s claim to them.

“We must make an effort to protect the Dokdo islets,’’ Yoo said.

He asked visitors not to use musical instruments or microphones, which can affect the birds on the island. They are also asked not to stray from the designated routes or take soil and stones from of the rocky islands.

Why don’t they use these same rules at all the wilderness parks in the country? It’s deplorable the amount of trash left by hikers and picnickers and the amount of noise pollution at the different parks in Korea. Did anyone expect the masses to behave any diffently on Dokto?

According to the Joong Ang Ilbo the ROK Army may begin a withdrawal of forces later this year from Iraq:

South Korean military leaders in Iraq have recommended that Seoul consider gradually reducing its forces in the north of the country, starting late this summer, sources in the government and Uri Party said yesterday. The Korean military has concluded that Iraqis will be capable of assuming a larger security role as early as August.

The sources said the Roh administration has seized on the suggestion as a way to express dissatisfaction over what it views as U.S. favoritism for Japan.

What I find interesting about this is that the ROK Army isn’t providing any security in Iraq. In fact in the relatively safe Northern Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdish Peshmerga are providing security for the ROK Army. That is why there has been no deaths of any ROK Army personnel during the deployment. In fact the greatest accomplishment for the ROK Army was the introduction of modern bathroom culture and toilet paper. Korea is able to do so much more in Iraq but chooses not to. Many nations with smaller populations than Korea’s fought in the Korean War and gave up their lives for Korea. Here is a listing of deaths from foreign countries during the Korean War:

US – 33,629
UK – 1,078
Turkey – 717
Canada – 310
Australia – 339
France – 290
Greece – 169
Columbia – 140
Ethiopia – 120
Neth. – 111
Thailand – 114
Belgium – 100
Phillipines – 92

It’s a good thing for Korea that a country like Ethiopia did more for freedom in this country than what Korea is willing to do in Iraq.

I’m not saying the ROK Army should even take any casualties in Iraq. I’m just advocating that Korea should do more than give people toilets. Build a highway, bridge, governmental buildings, or even a dam. These are all things Koreans excel at building.

Here are some statements from the Uri party I found interesting:

“The United States has chosen Japan as its proxy to control the growing Chinese influence in the region,” a top Uri Party official said. “The United States has given full support to Japan, including Tokyo’s bid to become a UN Security Council member. That is the background of why Tokyo is pushing its territorial claims over Dokdo against Seoul, and why Washington is silent about it.” Uri representative Woo Won-shik said, “We have nothing to gain by deploying the troops in Iraq for a long time. I support the reduction.”

“To show that South Korea-U.S. relations are not unilateral, we should withdraw, or at least reduce the forces,” Uri Representative Im Jong-in said.

I’m confused, it sounds like Representative Woo wants Korea to be the US’s proxy in Asia and not Japan? Then to say that the US supports Japan’s claim on Dokto because the government chooses to keep quiet about it is absurd. Has it ever occurred to this guy maybe the US government doesn’t care about Dokto? Just like more and more Americans are beginning to care less about Korea?

It pains me to say this because I really like Korea, but why shouldn’t the US show more support for Japan in the region instead of Korea? The Japanese government has been a steadfast ally of the US compared to the constant bickering with the South Korean government over everything from the 2ID redeployment, the Yongsan garrison move, North Korea, missile defense, and now the ROK Army deployment. So if the ROK Army begins withdrawing from Iraq then so be it. I guess the Iraqis will just have to learn to use toilet paper on their own.