Students Embark on Global Run to Promote Dokdo Issue

      August 14, 2009 08:32

      Five students from Seoul National University and a former middle school teacher have formed a group called the "Dokdo Racers" and are planning to travel around the world to promote international awareness of Korea's sovereignty over the Dokdo islets. The students will take a year off from school for the journey.

      "The Dokdo islets are certainly part of Korean soil, but the international community now considers them a disputed area between Korea and Japan," the leader of the group said. "We cannot just sit back and lose sovereignty, so we decided to take the initiative to inform the world that the islets belong to Korea."

      Leaving for San Francisco on Friday afternoon, they will travel to 30 cities in 50 countries including the U.S., Australia and nations in Europe and Africa, returning to Korea on Aug. 14 next year.

      Dokdo Racers members pose with traditional Korean folk music instruments.

      The students plan to run together through city centers in "Dokdo Races," and will pass out T-shirts printed with "taegeuk" (yin-yang) symbols and the phrase "Dokdo is Korea's beautiful island" in 16 languages.

      The races will be supplemented with seminars on the islets for university students, and performances of Korean folk music, dance, and Taekwondo. They will also visit mapmakers and publishers to ask that the islets be labeled Dokdo rather than "Takeshima" or "Liancourt Rocks," names which Japan has sought to bolster its claims of sovereignty over the islets.

      UN Heavyweight Calls on Japan to Face Up to Sexual Slavery
      Japan Lobbies Against Use of 'East Sea' Name
      U.S. Senators to Pressure Japan Over Sex Slaves
      New York Lawmakers Push for Use of 'East Sea' Name
      Japan Spends Big to Lobby U.S. Lawmakers
      'East Sea' Bill Scrapes Through Virginia House Subcommittee
      Virginia Senate Approves Use of Both Names for East Sea
      U.S. County Adopts New Teaching Policy on East Sea
      Pentagon Upsets Patriots by Mislabeling Maps
      U.S. Declines to Adopt 'East Sea' Name
      IHO Puts Off East Sea Decision Until 2017
      Japan Fails in East Sea Bid at IHO
      IHO Bogged Down Over East Sea Name
      83,000 Sign East Sea Petition on White House Website
      'East Sea' Spat Moves to White House Website
      Korea Faces Failure Over Naming of East Sea
      French Encyclopedia Publisher Adopts 'East Sea' Denomination
      Now 'East Sea' Has Sunk, Can 'Sea of Korea' Swim?
      Korea Dropped the Ball Over Int'l Naming of East Sea
      U.S. Backs 'Sea of Japan' for East Sea
      Archaic British Gazette Undermines Japan's Claim to 'East Sea'
      Korea Presses Maritime Body Over Naming of East Sea
      'East Sea' Name Gains International Traction
      Korea, U.S. to Use 'Neutral' Expression for East Sea
      'Cyber Diplomats' Mark 10 Years of Campaigning for Korea
      More Maps Weaken Japan's Claim to Dokdo
      Int'l Call to Use Both 'East Sea' and 'Sea of Japan'
      Seoul Blasts Tokyo Over Latest Dokdo Islets Claim
      Board Showing Dokdo as Korean Territory Found in Japan
      New York Senate Approves 'East Sea' Name
      U.S. Lawmaker Urges Resolution of Sex Slavery Issue
      • Copyright © Chosunilbo & Chosun.com
      Previous Next
      All Headlines Back to Top