Air Force Major committed to Dokdo education
Air Force Maj. Kim Sam-kwon has given about 2,000 lectures about Korea’s Dokdo islets since 2003 to raise public awareness about the fact that Dokdo is part of Korean territory geographically, historically and legally, despite Japan’s sovereignty claims.
At his busiest, he spent about 200 days a year giving lectures at elementary, middle and high schools, universities, companies and state agencies.
“It was sometimes hard. But, most of the lectures had been pleasant and fruitful for me,” he said in a recent interview. “Though I had much to do with my daily duties, I went to give lectures and took pleasure even in working overtime at night.”
Korea has effectively controlled Dokdo with a small police detachment since its liberation from Japan in 1945. But, Tokyo has claimed that the islets, which lie closer to Korea, are part of its territory, although it never established sovereignty.
Kim, who is now serving at the Joint Forces Military University and previously served at the Air Force Academy, has been referred to as a “Dokdo specialist” in the military.
He said his passion toward lectures comes from his allegiance and patriotism for his country.
“There have been some people who dissuaded me from delivering lectures as the subject is a somewhat sensitive issue for a soldier. They said such a career could negatively affect my future promotion. But I did not care, as I believed it was worthwhile to do,” he said.
He recalled one memorable lecture he gave in 2005 at a gymnasium in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, to about 500 kindergarteners.
“I was really worried they might get easily bored as they were so young. So, I prepared a visual education using about 140 photos about the islets. Fortunately, they enjoyed it,” he said. “After the lecture, the young boys and girls asked me to sign my autograph for them. I had to do that for three hours, though my lecture was two hours long.”
The major believes that the Korean people should not emotionally react to Japan’s sovereignty claims, but have sufficient knowledge and logic to refute the neighbor’s absurd argument and to inform people around the world of the fact that Dokdo is not a disputed territory, but rather a rightful part of Korea.