What if Dokdo is taken away by Japan? An expert said, "It means handing over 60% of Korea's territory."

YTN Radio (FM 94.5) [YTN News FM Wise Radio Life]
□ Broadcast Date: October 25, 2024 (Fri)

□ Host: Announcer Park Gui-bin
□ Castor: Kim Yun-bae, Korea Institute of Maritime Science and Technology, Ulleungdo Marine Research Base, Korea Maritime Research and Extension Services

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

◆Park Gui-bin Announcer (hereinafter referred to as Park Gui-bin): October 25th, today is Dokdo Day. It was established to express the will to protect Dokdo and to declare that it is Korean territory. Ten years ago, full-scale research on our Dokdo seas also began. The Ulleungdo Dokdo Maritime Research Base of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology is doing the work, and there is a person who has been guarding the Dokdo Ocean since the base was established. He's a person who keeps it and researches it. It's Kim Yoon-bae, the captain of the base. Let's connect in person and talk about Dokdo today. Hello, boss.

◇Kim Yun-bae, Director of Ulleungdo Marine Research Base, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (hereinafter referred to as Kim Yun-bae): Hello.

◆Park VIP: Are you still on Dokdo?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: I'm in Ulleungdo now. We have a Dokdo Day ceremony today, so we are now in Ulleungdo. However, our researchers celebrated Dokdo Day and recently the water temperature around Dokdo has risen unusually, so we are currently investigating Dokdo with external experts.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. You're in Ulleungdo right now. Is the weather similar between Ulleungdo and Dokdo because of the Dokdo Day celebration today?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: It's almost the same. In the case of today's weather, there are some waves of 1 to 2m, but it's not that bad weather to investigate Dokdo, so we're proceeding like this.

◆Park Guivin: Yes, how long does it take from Ulleungdo to Dokdo? The time is

◇Kim Yoon-bae: The shortest distance is about 87.4km, but it usually takes 1 hour and 40 minutes by ferry, and our research ships are a little slow, but it takes about 2 hours and a half.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. Is the reason why the research ships are slow is because they go while doing research?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: That's right. And the passenger ship is basically a speedboat, so it goes a little faster, and our research boats are going a little late because they are doing research.

◆Park Gui-bin: Yes, today is Dokdo Day. But why did October 25 become Dokdo Day?

◇ Kim Yoon-bae: In fact, I was the first person to propose Dokdo Day in 2000 when I worked for a private organization called the Dokdo Guards. There was a reason why Dokdo Day was designated as October 25 at the time. It was 1905 that Japan illegally incorporated Dokdo into the territory of Japan under the name of Takeshima. However, five years ago, on October 25, 1900, Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire illegally exploited Dokdo's resources, whether the Japanese were Ulleungdo or not. So, as a response, Ulleungdo, which belonged to Uljin-hyeon, Gangwon-do at the time, was reorganized into an independent county under the name of Uldo-gun. At the same time, an edict named Seokdo was issued under the jurisdiction of Uldo-gun. So, before Japan, we proposed October 25th as Dokdo Day in consideration of our government's administrative measures on Dokdo, and those parts seem to be spreading a lot now.

◆Park Gwibin: The Edict of the Korean Empire was issued on October 25, 1900. So it became Dokdo Day, and it was our captain who insisted on enacting Dokdo Day.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Yes, that's right. Personally, I started studying Dokdo in 1997. And since 2014, 10 years ago, the Ulleungdo Dokdo Marine Research Base, established here by Gyeongsangbuk-do and Ulleung-gun, and commissioned by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, a government-funded research institute, opened, and I have been studying Dokdo in Ulleungdo for 10 years as a resident and a scientist.

◆Park Gwibin: I heard you volunteered at first.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Actually, since before the establishment of the research base, I have been interested in Dokdo research since 1997, and I have often visited Ulleungdo, and now everyone has passed away. The first director of the Dokdo Museum, the chairman of the Blue Ulleungdo Dog Cultivation, Kim Sun-do, and the late Dokdo residents cared about me very much. So I had a connection with these people, so I volunteered from the beginning because I liked Ulleungdo.

◆Park Gwi-bin: That's why you've been there all this time. I think you know Ulleungdo and Dokdo better than anyone else.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Not really. Compared to the residents who have lived in Ulleungdo Island all their lives, is it still the blood of new feet? So I'm getting a lot of help from the residents.

◆Park Gui-bin: Because your boss keeps researching. But I'm curious. These days, there are a lot of people who travel to Ulleungdo Island and Dokdo. But I heard it's so hard to get into Dokdo. Why is that?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Fortunately, the weather at the sea is nice today, so you will enter for Dokdo Day. In fact, these days are only about 180 days a year, about half of the year on average. There is also a reason why the sea weather is bad, especially in winter. Another practical reason is that you enter the dock of Dokdo in order to dock Dokdo. Since the pier is not so large that only ships with less than 500 tons can do it, the small size of ships operating on Dokdo is one of the reasons.

◆Park Gui-bin: I see. I heard that you also made a guidebook for exploring Dokdo yourself. Those who haven't been to Dokdo must be very curious about the contents of the guidebook, but if you arrive at the Dokdo dock and a tourist gets off, what is the most important part of the guidebook?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Actually, we often see visitors coming from the side while conducting Dokdo research activities. However, it was common to just take pictures and go, so when we showed the various values of Dokdo, we produced a limited guidebook for field trips. For example, there is a place where our visitors take a lot of commemorative photo spots when they get off at the dock of Dokdo. It is a place called the East Land Monument in Korea. If you look closely at this monument, you will see that the shape of Samtaegeuk is engraved, not the shape of the national flag. This is now in Gyeongju, Gameunsa Temple, which was built by succeeding the will of our unified Silla King Munmu to protect the East Sea even if he dies, and if you look at it, the Samtaegeuk is engraved as it is. In short, this monument contains the spirit of the protection of the East Sea maritime territory of King Munmu. In that sense, when we created this kind of place value while looking at Dokdo, we made a guidebook in this sense.

◆Park Gui-bin: Yes, Dokdo Tour Guidebook. Can I go to Ulleungdo and see it there to travel to Dokdo?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Unfortunately, we've made limited booths due to our budget, so we're distributing them to those who come to the base, but since you're talking about it again today, I'll try to be more active.

◆Park Gui-bin: Yes, our leader is studying Dokdo, Dokdo, the sea, and Dokdo. You are also the leader of the marine research base, and what is the core research content?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: We have basically opened our base so far, and today's investigation is actually the 150th. We're going back and forth a lot. Our Dokdo sea is the fastest subtropical sea in Korea due to the climate crisis. So basically, the study of how this Dokdo sea will change according to this climate change is also the most important study in a way. On the other hand, we are intensively studying the marine ecological value of the Dokdo sea and how rich the marine biodiversity is, and on the other hand, we have a lot of experience in the Dokdo sea through research with local fishing village haenyeo. So I'm conducting research with those people.

◆Park Gui-bin: What is the most memorable thing while studying Dokdo's ocean?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Actually, the research was a very unfortunate incident while we were doing it, and it was still very embedded in my head. As our people may remember, it was around October 31st in 2019, and there was a crash of a Dokdo fire helicopter. So we went to the scene right after we heard the incident, and in fact, we found the first missing person. So, the most memorable moment was when we stayed for a few days every day until the search for missing people ended, and we looked at the Dokdo sea more desperately than ever before. On the other hand, when I thought about why these accidents happened, I heard that there was an illusion that our helicopter pilots could not see the light in the pitch-black darkness. So, as soon as possible, the facility was improved, and our fishermen were injured and the fire helicopter crashed like this, but while rescuing, I hope that those parts will be improved little by little.

◆Park Gui-bin: Actually, Dokdo is all aspects of us, so I feel a bit emotional and a little more patriotism. Dokdo itself is for us. But what do you think is the reason why Dokdo's value is important in our territory from the perspective of our leader, who studies Dokdo there himself and likes it, so he writes it down in resources and continues to work?
◇Kim Yoon-bae: If we think about it often, we don't know if we've been to Dokdo ourselves, but if we go there ourselves, it's not a big island. In fact, under the sea of Dokdo, when the East Sea of the Korean national anthem and Baekdusan Mountain get dry and worn out, Dokdo is not just a small island, but a volcanic body that is higher than Hallasan Mountain in a word. And now, so the Dokdo that we see is a small part of that, which is very high, close to 2,300m. And more importantly, if we take away Dokdo, we don't just take away Dokdo, but we also take away the sea territory around it. When we calculated related data ourselves, such an area was about 60,000㎢, which is 60% of the area of South Korea. So here's the true value of Dokdo, which is the sea around Dokdo, and I think it's really worth it.

◇ Kim Yoon-bae: So I can tell you that it's not a small island, it's a huge Dokdo that's 2,300m long, and it contains a huge marine territory.

◆Park Gui-bin: I think many people know Dokdo as a small island located next to Ulleungdo Island, but it's not. And it was made before Ulleungdo. Dokdo?

◇ Kim Yoon-bae: Yes, that's right. Now, in terms of the fish period, it was made much longer than Ulleungdo Island. It was recently studied that it was an island as large as Ulleungdo Island in the early stages of its creation, from 4.6 million to 2.5 million years ago. But another unfortunate fact is that it digs and erodes around Dokdo very quickly, and according to recent research, its status as an island will be submerged in the sea as an island for thousands of years to hundreds of years. Those studies are coming out. So I think such a comprehensive study to prevent this part is also necessary.

◆Park Gui-bin: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the base's opening. So I think you have a special plan, what do you think?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: First of all, I would like to thank the relevant officials in Ulleung-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries for celebrating their 10th anniversary over the past 10 years. We declared this vision while hosting the 10th anniversary ceremony. We declared the long-standing future of Ulleungdo Dokdo and the value of life, which is revealed as marine science in the era of climate crisis. I think future research is needed to see how we will adapt and move forward in the era of climate crisis, as well as Ulleungdo Dokdo. On the other hand, we need to live well on Ulleungdo Dokdo so that we can protect Dokdo well. So now, we are planning to conduct a study to re-examine the value of the island through research on residents' participation, whether these studies are high value-added sea creatures. There are a lot of broadcasts that show Dokdo in real time on the land of Dokdo, and we're preparing to see it in real time next year. In addition, the bones of Dokdo sea lions, commonly known as Gangchi, are still present on Ulleungdo's Dokdo. So, I think it's a study using these bones and we want to play a role as a stepping stone in revitalizing deep-sea research on Dokdo through research such as Dokdo shrimp.

◆Park VIP: Okay. Captain, you've always been there for about 10 years, so did you eat a lot of Dokdo shrimp?

◇Kim Yoon-bae: I didn't eat a lot. Because it's very expensive and actually it doesn't have much supply compared to the person you're looking for

◆Park Gui Bin: You can't eat a lot either.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Recently, we researched that it's very good for nutrition.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Yes, I see. I hope you can also study how to make Dokdo shrimp cheaper in the future.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Let's find out a realistic way.

◆Park Gui-bin: Captain, it's time to wrap up. On the occasion of Dokdo Day, please study for a long time and say something to our people who love Dokdo.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Every year on Dokdo Day, you actually think a lot. As the day passed, I thought about what has changed for the future of Dokdo this year, and I also think that I should study harder from a researcher's point of view, and on the other hand, we tend to look only at Dokdo. Since it was a living ground for Ulleungdo residents by linking Ulleungdo's Dokdo, it seems that in order to revitalize Dokdo, we need a lot of talented people from our region and improve our base infrastructure. Personally, I will not forget my first heart when I start and study harder.

◆Park Gwi-bin: Thank you. Until now, Kim Yun-bae was the head of the Ulleungdo Marine Research Station at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology. Thank you, boss.

◇Kim Yoon-bae: Yes. Thank you.