Swimming To Our Islands, Dokdo
Dokdo lies between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. The islands are considered an unalterable, irrefutable part of Korea according to the Korean government and people. And the same position is held by the Japanese government. Korean singer Kim Jang-Hoon and teammates from the Korea National Sport University proved their point the hard way. Last August, they reportedly swam 220 km over a 48 hour 30 minute period from the port city of Uljin on the South Korean peninsula to the isolated islands.
“Dokdo is undeniably our territory, so we do not have to shout that it’s our territory,” said the celebrity with a deep passion for this geo-political issue. “We will enjoy swimming the journey to Dokdo, so that Dokdo will not feel alone and we will familiarize ourselves with Dokdo. Dokdo belongs to the Republic of Korea, so we will shout, ‘Go for it with the Republic of Korea’.”
The Korean position on these islands, that is considered to have extraordinarily valuable natural gas deposits around them, are here. Koichiro Gemba, the Japanese foreign minister, stated the opposite, “Takeshima…is an inherent territory of Japan, both in the light of historical facts and based on international law.”
Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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