> Media Center > Dokdo, the First Victim of Japan’s Aggression Against the Korean Peninsula > The Korean Empire’s Jurisdiction Over Dokdo
Hwangseong Shinmun
“Ulswi-Bogo-Naebu (The Uldo Magistrate Reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs).”
Uldo County (Ulleungdo) Magistrate Sim Heung-taek reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs that:
“Dokdo, which is under the jurisdiction of this county, is some 100li (39km) out at sea. On the 4th of this month (March28), a group of Japanese officials visited the county office and arbitrarily claimed, “Dokdo is now becoming a Japanese territory, so we have come to inspect the area.” The group included Oki Islands' Magistrate Bunsuke Higashi of Shimane Prefecture; Secretary Yoshitaro Jinzai; Tax Office Superintendent Heigo Yoshida; Police Substation Captain Iwahachiro Kageyama; a policeman; a council member; a physician; an engineer; and some 10 others. They inquired about the number of households, size of the population, land area, and yields as well as the size of the staff and budget. They recorded the information as though they were undertaking a general survey and then left.”
* Hwangseong Shinmun was first published in 1898 and forced to close soon after the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910.