There is overwhelming evidence that Dokdo was controlled by the Koreans before 1905. Here is a collection that refutes the official position of the Japanese government.
1. You can see Dokdo from Ulleungdo.Dokdo and Ulleungdo (pronounced "ool-lung-daw") are visible from each other. Anyone living in Ulleungdo for long enough knows that Dokdo is out there. But Dokdo cannot be seen from any Japanese island at all.
Dokdo can be seen from Ulleungdo. (Source: Dokdo Center) 2. Koreans have inhabited Ulleungdo from prehistoric times.Korean people lived in Ulleungdo since prehistoric times. Three Korean style
dolmens (goindol) attributable to a period between about 300 B.C. to about 1 A.D. have been located in Ulleungdo. Dolmens are ancient tombs of the bronze age and the early iron age. The Korean peninsula contains about 40 % of all dolmens in the world. The majority of the rest of the dolmens are within Manchuria, which was within the territory of the ancient Korean kingdom of
Gojoseon . The dolmens prove that Koreans lived in Ulleungdo at that time.
Photo above: An example of a Korean dolmen.
The rock carvings at Bangudae, Ulsan in Korea, shows images of whaling ships that accommodate about 20 sailors. If the ancient Koreans could sail to Ulleungdo to live there even if they cannot see Ulleungdo from the Korean mainland, surely they must have sailed to Dokdo that they could see from Ulleungdo.
Photo to the left:
Scholars believe that the rock carvings at Bangudae were made between the neolithic age and early iron age over a period of time.
3. Shilla, a Korean kingdom, conquered and annexed the local kingdom of Usan-guk in 512 A.D. The first written reference to Dokdo appears in a Korean history book titled "Samguk Sagi"meaning "History of Three Kingdoms") which was compiled in 1145 A.D. According to Samguk Sagi, Isabu, a general of Shilla, conquered and annexed "Usan-guk," which refer to Ulleungdo and Dokdo collectively.
Picture to the left: The campaign of Isabu Kim in 512 A.D.
Photo above: A page of Samguk Sagi that describes the
conquest and annexation of "Usan-guk" by Shilla, a Korean kingdom.
4. Dokdo is included in Usan-guk.Usan-guk includes the two islands of Mulleung and Usan, according to old Korean records such as "Sejong Shillok Jiriji," a publication in 1454 A.D. According to this record, the two islands are separated far enough so that they can be seen from each other only on a clear day. Only the pair of Ulleungdo and Dokdo satisfies this condition in the East Sea.
Another record, Goryeosa (高麗史; "History of Goryeo") Jiriji (geography section), which was published in 1451, provides a similar description asSejoing Shillok Jiriji of 1454.
5. An official expedition from a Korean government has been to Dokdo in 1476.Annals of King Seongjong report an expedition to Dokdo in 1476. In this record, Dokdo is referred to as Sambongdo.
Reconstruction of the estimated route of the party of Ja-Ju Kim in their voyage to and from Sambongdo in 1476.
Peninsula Map on Dokdo : the island itself illustrates Korean territory ^^
6. Old Korean history books prove that Usan is DokdoSome Korean history books provide an explicit description of ownership of Dokdo. A 1756 History book titled "Border History" (疆界考) by Gyeong-Jun Shin describes historical borders of the Korean territory. A pertinent section states:
"In my considered opinion, the statement in Yeojiji (輿地志; note: Presently, no extant copy of this book is available) is correct, which states that 'although some dumb people theorize that Ulleungdo and Usan are one island, consideration of many maps leads to the conclusion that there are two distinct islands. One is what the Japanese refer to as Songdo (松島; Matsushima in Japanese). These two islands belong to Usan-guk (于山國).'"
Other Korean history books that also show Korean ownership of Dokdo include: Mangi Yoram ( 萬機要覽) of 1808, History of the East (海東繹史) of 1823, and Revised Encyclopedia of Records (增補文獻備考) of 1907.
The Ahn Yong-bok incident of 1696 demonstrates the exercise of exclusive dominion over Dokdo by the Koreans. Yong-bok Ahn was a local man of Ulleungdo that exercised the property rights of Korea against the Japanese fishermen in 1693 and 1696, pretty much the same way that a homeowner expels an intruder from his home. Subsequently, inspectors were dispatched every three years by the Korean government to Ulleungdo and Gajido (Dokdo) after Yong-bok Ahn's action to ensure that no Japanese activity was carried out there according to the Annals of King Jeongjo (1776-1800). Once again, two islands are mentioned.
Photo to the left: a page from Mangi Yoram on the Ahn Yong-bok incident: "Yong-bok followed them to Songdo and scolded them again. "Songdo is Usando. Have you not heard that Usando is our land?" And he used a big stick to destroy their large cooking pot. The Japanese were scared and ran away. Yong-bok went to Baekgi-Ju (伯耆州, referring to Shimane Prefecture) and told the story (to the government officials of that place). The governor punished them (the Japanese sailors)."
Photo to the left: A Japanese document, generated by a local official of Oki island in Japan in 1696 immediately after the Ahn Yong-bok incident, reads "8 Provinces of Chosun: Gyeonggi Province, Gangweon Province - within this Province exists Takeshima and Matsushima, Jeonla Province, Chungcheong Province, ...."
Photo to the left: After the Ahn yong-bok incident, Tokugawa shogunate (the Japanese government) sent a letter to the government of Chosun (Korea) in 1697 to notify that they had placed a ban on travel to Ulleungdo. While Dokdo is not mentioned in this document, inclusion of Dokdo in the ban was understood because Dokdo "belonged to" Ulleungdo. The actions of the Japanese government during the subsequent enforcement of the ban demonstrate that Dokdo was also included in the ban.
Due to the sheer number of available Korean maps that identify Dokdo as Korean territory, only two examples are provided here.
8.1 Carte de la Corée of 1846 by Dae-Geun Kim
Photos to the left: "Carte de la Corée," a map of Korea completed in 1846 by Dae-Geun Kim, made its way to Europe, and became the prototype map of many subsequent European maps. The original map was written in French, in which Ulleungdo was listed as "Oulangto" and Dokdo was listed as "Ousan," a French transliteration of Usan (우산, 芋山).
8.2 Daedong Yeojido of 1861 by Jeong-ho Kim
Photo to the left: A copy of a high resolution map of Korea, the Daedong Yeojido, (대동여지도, 大東輿地圖), published in 1861 by Jeong-ho Kim (김정호) and recently discovered in the Library of Japanese Parliament in 1997, schematically shows Dokdo.
9. In 1836, the Japanese government declares that Dokdo is a forbidden foreign territory. Since the Ahn Yong-bok incident, the Japanese government placed a ban on seafaring into foreign countries. Later on, a young venturous Japanese man named Aizuya Hachiemon (會津屋八右衛門 or 会津屋八右衛門; あいずやはちえもん, 1798 - 1836) was captured, tried, and executed by the Japanese government for illegally operating a cargo vessel to Ulleungdo. At the trial of Aizuya Hachiemon, the Japanese government made it clear that Dokdo, as well as Ulleungdo, is included in the ban on seafaring.
Other proofs: Text of an edict from the Shogunate after the Aizuya Hachiemon case and
Aizuya Hachiemon's map that accompanied the Shogunate edict.
To ensure that everyone understood the ban on travel to Ulleungdo OR Dokdo, Matsudaira Hamada (松平浜田), who was the ruler of Shimane prefecture, issued a 4-page document titled "Ohesoozebonzangu (御解書御諸本帳; オヘソオゼボンザング) in 1838. All villages leaders had to read this document and put their signature on the last page of the document in acknowledgment.
First page of the public notice banning entry to Ulleungdo and Dokdo that was issued pursuant to disposition of Aizuya Hachiemon case.
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