Embassies, consulates to get 350,000 booklets on Dokdo

The Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry on Friday said it will distribute 350,000 booklets promoting Korea’s sovereignty over its easternmost islets of Dokdo in 10 languages, including English, French, Japanese and Arabic, to some 160 diplomatic missions around the world next week.

In an unprecedented move, the ministry will send the 33-page material that provides brief summaries of historical grounds for Korea’s claim to Dokdo and rebuttals to Japan’s claim to the islets.

The ministry also ordered its overseas diplomats to emphasize the historical side of Dokdo when talking about the islets with people in their host countries. A major talking point is that Dokdo was the first victim of Japan’s colonial aggression of Korea and that Tokyo`s claim to the islets is a reiteration of its past unjust behavior.

In addition, the government will distribute materials on Dokdo to some 18,000 Korean-language schools around the world. It will also discuss setting up an Internet homepage on the islets, strengthen the monitoring of foreign websites that have incorrect information on it, and form a task force for correcting such false data.

“We`ve recently been receiving reports that Japanese embassies held sessions for leading figures from their host countries to claim that Dokdo was its territory,” a ministry official said. “As Japan has started an online publicity campaign over Dokdo, we`ll respond more strongly and actively.”

In a staff meeting at the ministry, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan told them to arm themselves with knowledge of Japan`s claims, urging them to obtain as much as possible knowledge about the historical, geographical and international facts about Dokdo.

lightee@donga.com