[LETTERS to the editor]How to keep Dokdo from Japan

The Dokdo issue should be discussed as Japan’s effort to establish a historical stepping stone to expand its territory to the Korean Peninsula and China. The Japanese are trying to instill a groundless ambition to grab Dokdo in their youngsters. The latest attempt in revising their teaching guidelines is a part of such efforts.

What should we do?

The government has planted a marker on Dokdo declaring it as Korean territory. It also established new offices on Dokdo and is considering various countermeasures. In addition to such efforts, I believe a stronger measure to correct Japan’s wrong idea must be taken to make the government’s plan more effective.

We must reinforce our efforts to educate our young about the history of Japan’s invasion of Korea. We must reinforce our academic evidence about that history.

First, we should build a facility to exhibit Japan’s greed for territorial expansion started with challenging Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo. The facility should also show Japan’s brutal crimes against humanity including its assault on Asian culture, massacres, human experimentation, forced labor, the comfort women ... But we should refrain from any action that will provoke an emotional fight between Korea and Japan. There is no need to stress that Dokdo is Korea’s territory to unnecessarily provoke Japan.

We should raise funds for academic research to prove Japan’s history of invasion and cruelty that began from its attempt to claim Dokdo. In order to enlighten the shameless Japanese, we need to raise a research fund to uncover historical evidence and build an archive.

We should also respect law and order and reason at home and promote an image of Koreans to the world that we are seeking our national interest in harmony with our neighbors.

Wu Jeong-nam, professor of education, Kookmin University

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