[NEWS ANALYSIS] Making Dokdo more `habitable`?

Top officials from the government and the ruling Grand National Party over the weekend announced a project to make the Dokdo islets "habitable," as part of efforts to resist Japan`s latest sovereignty claim.

But the announcement left many observers puzzled because the Seoul government has already identified Dokdo as habitable islets, not just rocks, at least since 2006 when it negotiated an exclusive economic zone in the East Sea with Japan.

These analysts say that it would be more accurate to say that the plan is to make Dokdo "more" habitable, as there are currently four people residing there who fish for a living.

Putting aside the dubious phrasing of the project, the plan to establish more facilities and get more people to live there has been routinely proposed in reaction to Japan`s sovereignty claims.

Government officials explain that, this time, the situation is different, insofar as Seoul is more determined to carry the projects out.

"We will see a different outcome because the political intentions of the government, as well as the public determination, are different," an official from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said on condition of anonymity.

There is the matter of whether making Dokdo habitable is feasible, and whether that would fortify Korea`s sovereignty of the islets.

While it has been repeatedly suggested that more people should live on Dokdo, making that a reality has proved to be difficult due to the harshness of the area and the fact that it must be protected as a national preservation site, which it was designated as in 1982.

Also, while making Dokdo "more habitable" would be significant politically and in a psychological sense, that would have little or no effect in terms of settling the matter based on international law, according to various sources.

"The International Court of Justice, in case of a territorial dispute, looks into who has been residing in the island before the point of debate. In other words, which nationals have been living there before (both parties in the confrontation) began making claims," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

"While it would make political sense to enhance the habitability (of Dokdo) right now, that has little meaning legally," the official added.

While the Seoul government is intent on ignoring Japan`s alleged attempt to create an international dispute, the critical year in this matter would either be 1905 or 1952.

Without Korea`s knowledge, Japan registered Dokdo as a part of its Shimane Prefecture, calling it "Takeshima" in 1905 after its victorious war with Russia. In 1952, Japan protested a measure by President Syngman Rhee of Korea to draw the Peace Line or Rhee Line that was intended to control fishing within a zone around the peninsula.

The first Korean resident to inhabit Dokdo was Choi Jong-duck, who has been there since March, 1965. Living with Choi since the 1970s has been a married couple, Kim Seong-do and Kim Shin-yeol, who made Dokdo their official residence in 1991.

There are currently six Korean citizens registered on Dokdo. The island, comprised of two main islets and 33 smaller rocks, is also inhabited by a small Korean police detachment, administrative personnel and lighthouse staff.

Public access to Dokdo was in 2005 and the number of visitors surpassed 100,000 last year. Korea has been had a full-time squad of police on the islets since 1956.

Korea`s latest decision to make Dokdo "habitable" overlaps with the Roh Moo-hyun government`s efforts to clarify the definition of Dokdo.

Korea had been defining Dokdo as rocks in its negotiations regarding the EEZ with Japan, until 2006, when it decided to expand the EEZ around Dokdo, instead of a larger set of islands - Ulleungdo - which are closer to the Korean mainland.

Japan countered that move by designating Torishima island in Nagasaki prefecture as its cardinal point, thereby moving its EEZ further into the Korean side. The negotiations which resumed in 2006 remain deadlocked. The last round of talks was in May.

According to Article 121 of the U.N. Law of the Sea, "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."

While that article has been subject to ongoing debate, Korea argues that it has already proven that Dokdo is habitable.

Questions persist over whether the government`s and the GNP`s plan to enhance the habitability of Dokdo is feasible.

Following a similar proposal to increase the number of facilities and residents in 2005, what was then the Maritime and Fisheries Ministry said that the measures were virtually impossible to implement.

As the area within a 1 kilometer range of Dokdo is designated as a natural preservation area, any development plan must be approved by the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Even if such legal limitations were not part of the equation, any type of construction there is extremely difficult because the wind swell around the region is so strong, the ministry explained. The weak ground on the islets also makes it hard to build any large facilities there.

Government officials now say that, while the environmental and geographical circumstances may be the same as in 2005, the political intentions are different.

"We plan to start reviewing the feasibility of the projects, starting with those that would pose the least difficulty, such as constructing accommodations for fishermen," an official with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said on condition of anonymity.

The latest government plan includes building a maritime science research base, expanding the number of fishermen`s lodges, constructing a camp for students, and creating a marine hotel.



By Lee Joo-hee



(angiely@heraldm.com)