S. Korea gives Dokdo new addresses in symbolic gesture countering Japanese territorial claims

DOKDO, South Korea, June 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea gave its easternmost islets of Dokdo new addresses Wednesday, using the names of a sixth-century general and a 17th-century fisherman, in a symbolic gesture underscoring the country's sovereignty amid Japanese territorial claims over the islets.
The eastern part of Dokdo was named "Isabu Street" and the western part "Anyongbok Street."
Isabu was a sixth-century general of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-935 A.D.) known for conquering what is now Dokdo and nearby Ulleungdo, and Anyongbok was a fisherman of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) known for having Japanese authorities acknowledge that Dokdo belonged to Joseon.
"Japan is repeatedly making provocations in an attempt to make Dokdo an area of international dispute, but we should not be taken in by this," Public Administration and Security Minister Maeng Hyung-kyu said during a naming ceremony held on Dokdo.
"We have to respond in a calm and stern manner based on the fact that Dokdo is indisputably our territory historically, geographically and in terms of international law," he said.



Japanese claims over Dokdo have long been a thorn in relations between the two countries as resentment over Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea still runs deep here.
South Korea rejects the claims as nonsense because the country regained independence from the colonial rule and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula.
Since 1954, South Korea has stationed a small police detachment on Dokdo.