Why are patriotic Koreans going on day trips to the Dokdo islets over which Japan stakes a claim?
Located about 200 kilometres off the country's eastern coast, the Dokdo islets have become a must-see place for Koreans who visit Ulleung Island, a nearby bigger island closer to the mainland, if weather permits.
The Dokdo islets, or Takeshima islands as they are called by Japan, are a tiny group of craggy islets at the centre of a diplomatic dispute between Japan and Korea that goes back more than 300 years.
Against this backdrop, some Korean tour companies are presenting tour programmes which include Dokdo, which means “solitary island” in Korean.
Web Tour, a Hana Tour subsidiary that specialises in Ulleung Island and Dokdo tours, is offering a free day tour to Dokdo to those who book a three-day tour on Ulleung Island during August. Before, the option cost an extra 58,000 won (US$48).
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Kang Su-jung, a marketing officer at Web Tour, says more Koreans are seeking out the islets compared to previous years.
“The special tour package is timed for the upcoming Liberation Day (August 15) and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Korea's Provisional Government against the Japanese colonial government,” Kang said in a phone interview. “We hope many people will take this chance to visit our Dokdo.”
Some of the increase in visitor numbers is fuelled by the completion of a new coastal motorway on Ulleung Island last December, Kang added.
JH Ferry, which runs boat rides among Hupo Port in Uljin, Ulleung Island and Dokdo, also announced this week that it would provide a free Dokdo tour to those who sign up for an all-inclusive three-day package in Ulleung.
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The demographic of visitors to Dokdo has widened in the recent surge, according to Web Tour's Kang.
“Before, most of the visitors to Dokdo were people in their 50s and 60s. Now we get a lot of families with young children coming for (historical and geopolitical) educational purposes, as well as groups of university students,” she said.
According to the Dokdo management office under Ulleung County, about 172,500 people visited Dokdo this year as of August 1, up 29.7 per cent from 132,900 during the same period of last year.
The office said the growing number of visitors to Ulleung following the motorway completion has also boosted visits to Dokdo, as well as historic factors such as the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement. It expects the largest number of visitors to Dokdo this year, following the growing anti-Abe sentiment after Japan's export curbs.
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Besides Dokdo, many Koreans are seeking domestic destinations or Southeast Asian countries for summer holidays as they are boycotting trips to neighbouring Japan, a popular year-round destination for Koreans.
Many Koreans cancelled summer holidays to Japan that were planned months in advance, paying hefty cancellation costs. Screenshots of flight refund pages or family photos taken in domestic destinations such as Jeju Island or Gangneung with Korean flag hashtags have flooded social media.
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With Korea’s Liberation Day on August 15, Koreans are heading for the territorially disputed Dokdo islets – called Takeshima islands in Japan – as local tour companies are offering up special tours