Korea ups education on Dokdo

The Korean government is stepping up school education on Dokdo, about a week after the Japanese government approved high school textbooks that claim the easternmost islets as Japanese territory.

Seoul’s education ministry said it distributed supplementary textbooks on Dokdo to all elementary, middle and high schools to be used during the designated classes on the islets in the new semester which began in March.

“The education on Dokdo is to raise students’ awareness of the necessity for guarding our territorial rights over Dokdo and the history of strong responses against Japan’s territorial claim,” said a ministry official.

The islets, which lie in the body of water that divides the Korean Peninsula and Japan, have been a thorny issue between the two countries as Japan has continuously made claims to its sovereignty.

South Korea has a small police detachment on the islets, effectively controlling them.

The supplementary textbooks titled “Get to know Dokdo right” will be distributed to students in all six grades in elementary schools nationwide in April.

They have been already issued to third graders in middle schools and high school freshmen in February so that each school can implement Dokdo-themed classes from March.

Schools are recommended to conduct classes on Dokdo for up to 10 hours a year.