Korean American organizations such as the Korean American Leaders Association (KALA) and BYON International both commenced a public relations campaign to spread the word that Dokdo is the territory of S. Korea. The Dokdo conflict has been ongoing and strains bilateral relations between Korea and Japan.
KALA and BYON have created blue bracelets (100, 000) with the words "Dokdo is Korean Territory" and "East Sea is Korea" written on them. This is hot off the heels when Japan approved textbooks claiming Dokdo belongs to Japan, which states that S. Korea illegally occupies the territory and is approved by the Japanese government. KALA co-chair Hwang Sung-ho says, "The campaign will soon go national" He continued to say, "We need to be more aggressive in raising awareness in the U.S. about the importance of this issue," he told The Korea Times, stressing that the U.S. holds the key to resolving the long-running dispute between Korea and Japan."
Dokdo is located roughly 90 kilometers east of Ulleung Island in the East Sea, which is the eastern most point of Korean boundary. Since 1954, Korea has stationed a coast guard there, but Japan has consistently claimed sovereignty over the region.
Even a series of media ads advocating Korea's sovereignty have been launched in the U.S., however, this is the first time that material has been used for advocacy. Further, more some critics think that this could lead to adverse effects instead of helping S. Korea's claim.
