To celebrate Takeshima (the name of Dokdo claimed by Japan) Day (February 22), which Japan’s Shimane Prefecture has unilaterally set to claim sovereignty over Dokdo since 2006, Japan has used Dokdo sea lions to promote it. It is being strengthened further.
Professor Seo Gyeong-deok of Sungshin Women’s University posted on his Facebook page on the 22nd, “After investigating what parts they are distorting about Dokdo, I recently visited the ‘Takeshima Data Room’ located on the second floor of the Shimane Prefectural Office in order to actively respond.” Because of this, I have not been able to visit for several years, and there was an atmosphere in which publicity using Dokdo sea lions was further strengthened.”
He added, “We have mainly used exhibition panels using sea lion characters in the past, but now we are using sea lion stickers, sea lion dolls, sea lion origami, etc. to widely publicize ‘Takeshima Day’ and the data room.”
Professor Seo pointed out, “The historical fact that Japan illegally captured Dokdo sea lions and made them extinct in order to obtain skin and oil was not acknowledged at all, and they were reinforcing distorted education by reviving them as characters.”
It is estimated that up to tens of thousands of sea lions, a type of sea lion, once lived on Dokdo in groups. However, it is known that after Japan incorporated Dokdo into its territory in 1905, it created a company dedicated to catching sea lions and brutally captured them.
Professor Seo also said, “As soon as you enter the exhibition room, you can see the large picture of seaweed that catches your eye. Regarding this, ‘The seaweed around Dokdo was caught as large as 3 meters. “A lot of seaweed was caught around Oki Island, but there was an explanation that it was ‘1 meter at most,’ so this was also illegal harvesting,” he explained.
Lastly, he emphasized, “Last year, we produced a multilingual video on the history of Dokdo sea lions and are promoting it domestically and internationally. We will soon add a Japanese version to make the distortions in the Shimane Prefectural Office archive widely known to the Japanese.”
Song Chi-hoon,
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.