Museum of Shamanism w/ Folklorist Yang Jong-sung

On May 25, a Wednesday, the Museum of Shamanism had an opening ceremony to celebrate its new location at the Geumseongdang Shamanic Shrine, a 200-year-old shamanic site that has been newly restored and just a 10-minute walk from Gupabal station, exit 2. The museum is the private collection of folklorist Professor Yang Jong-sung, who is also the director-curator and the owner-collector of the shamanic treasures that he has gathered over several decades. He stresses that though he was trained to be a shaman, he never was initiated and now is proud to be just a collector and researcher of the indigenous religion. His collection comprises mostly shamanic resources from Korean shamanism but he also has items from Mongolia, China and Nepal, countries also steeped in shamanism and sharing similar or curiously different shamanic objects. The shrine itself is owned by the government and by government request, Professor Yang has placed his collection at the government restored site.

The museum which was made public three years previous in its former location is the life collection of Professor Yang and houses nearly 200,000 items. The museum’s collection includes shrine-based spirit paintings, clothing, ritual texts, amulets, divination objects, ritual utensils, brass mirrors, musical instruments, candlesticks, incense burners, fans, bells, spears/swords, fabric for longevity, and handcrafted paper decorations and paper flowers. Also accessible to patrons and scholars are a collection of shamanic books, research articles, videos, recorded tapes, photographs, and event materials.

The name of the Geumseongdang Shamanic Shrine is traced back to Prince Geumseong (1426-1457), who "is enshrined as a liquor-serving spirit god of the said shrine. Prince Geumseong was the 6th prince of Great King Sejong and Empress Soheon, conferred as a prince when he was seven years old under the early name of 'Yu'. Prince Geumseong was also uncle to King Danjong, the 6th king of the Joseon Dynasty, and younger brother to Prince Suyang, who later became the 7th monarch, King Sejo, of the Joseon Dynasty. Prince Geumseong was a man of integrity and steadfast loyalty. While Prince Suyang used subterfuge to gain access to the throne, eventually achieving the position as King Sejo, Prince Geumseong endeavored to see King Danjong restored to power. As a result of his activities in conflict with the monarchy, Prince Geumseong was entrapped and killed by King Sejo when he was 31 years old.

At the end of the Joseon Dynasty, there were three government-supported Great Prince Geumseong shrines established, including Gupabal (Jingwan-dong), Mapo (Mangwon-dong) and Gaksimjeol (Wolgye-dong) in the Seoul region. However, during the 1970s two shrines were destroyed in the push toward industrialization, leaving the Gupabal (Jingwan-dong) site as the only to survive.

During their time of prominence, the people prayed at the shrines to appease the grudge of Prince Geumseong [who was the leader and is known to have promoted shamanic practices], as well as to honor the memory of his royalty and devotion. Upon the arrival of his birthday, according to the lunar calendar March 24, shamanic rituals were annually performed to foster united community, solidify bonds of kinship, to raise the spirit of standing together, and for the continued peace of citizens, villages, and the Korean nation."

The Geumseongdang shamanic shrine was government designated as a Cultural Property of Important Folk Material Number 258 on July 22, 2008.

Asadal Thought has a great overview of what shamanism is in Korea.

Explanations on items within:

Below, folklorist Yang Jong-sung in front of the patron god of the shrine, Great Prince Geumseong. Professor Yang is explaining the importance of the five flags -- white, red, yellow, green, blue or black -- which are used in ceremony. Basically the shaman offers the flag poles to the person requiring the gut in order to confer luck or fortune or wisdom onto the person. The person chooses one of the poles and the flag color is revealed. If the flag is white or red, then the person will have luck or good returns and the flag-choosing is finished. If the person chooses another color, he/she has three chances to choose white or red to change the fortune.

In a gut I saw several years ago, a man having very bad luck at his business paid for an expensive exorcism of bad luck. When it was his time to choose a flag, he chose green, a particularly bad color to choose and one which inhibits fortune. He had two more chances to choose white or red, and each time he chose green. Bad bad bad. Even the shamans were frustrated. They let him pay a lot more and then choose again. The average gut nowadays is bottom rate of W5 million and could easily go up to W10 million or even higher.

Professor Yang had a couple of the people attending chose a color. One guy chose yellow, which symbolizes ancestors, so Professor Yang told him that his ancestors, particularly his maternal grandmother, was looking out for him. The guy said he was adopted so how was that possible. Surprised, Professor Yang asked him to choose again ... this time blue. Again he chose and again blue. Professor Yang told him not to worry, that he was a strong young man so he could handle anything.

Paraphernalia, particularly pictures of a shaman's gods when he/she dies, must be burned or destroyed, and for this reason many shaman accessories just cease to exist. Professor Yang was trained as a shaman but two shamans were arguing over who would get him as their spiritual son and so that and perhaps other reasons meant he never got his initiation ceremony. However, Woo Okju (1920-1991), a very famous shaman from what is now North Korea, gave many of her spirit-god pictures that she had inherited from her male mentor Kim Ki-baek to Yang. She said that the gods weren't working for her because her gender was in conflict and told Yang to hang on to the pictures and to use them since he was a strong male who could inherit the gods and spirits from the paintings. Because she gave them to him, it was not essential that the paraphernalia be burned as the gods had been transferred.

Kim Ki-baek (1894-1932), Woo Okju's spirit mentor, was a famous shaman also from North Korea. He had an unfortunate ending and is famous for it. In a shaman ceremony while dancing on knives he spoke against the Japanese, and they struck him down for it.

Fish, usually long fish and not short fat ones, are used in shaman ceremonies. The fish symbolizes the ocean, the place where the Dragon King lives. The ocean is a place of water, which is one of the three most important icons of shamanism. The three are water, fire and matter.

The fish or commonly carp is also the symbol of a god, ghost, spirit and all of these are different in western concepts. Yet, in eastern thinking these exist simultaneously and they cooperate together; they are not viewed separately and defined individually; they are loosely the same.

The nearly 200,000 objects in the shamanism museum clearly show that sounds, smells, speaking and body movement are equally important in ceremony. Sounds include musical instruments, almost all of which are percussion, clapping, and all ceremonies begin and end with the striking of a bell three times. Three is a very important numeric in shamanism. Three can mean:

• water, fire, matter
• beginning #, ending #, helping #
• heaven, earth, ???
• left, right, center
• ...

Smells include incense while inviting/entertaining the spirits. Often three incense sticks are burnt simultaneously, but burning one is OK. Burning an even number brings bad luck and is therefore not done. Ceremonies must have speaking because speaking is for communication with the spirits and the mortals. Body movement is important as movement shows recognition, understanding, knowledge, change. Included in body movement is the clapping of hands, which are clapped flatly and loudly together - 인양 (sp?) which is a kind of harmony, a coming together.

As for warlike paraphernalia, the knives, swords, halberds, and other sharp instruments are used to symbolize fighting against the invading army of bad spirits. The shamans can see these spirits in ceremony when his/her gods/spirits are assisting him/her and informing him/her of things in the spirits world and if the spirits are recognized as bad, the shamans can flail the weapons in spiritual battle.

Also in the museum are materials necessary for transporting the spirits of a deceased person onward to the spirit world. The dragon below was on a funeral cart and its spiritual function was to protect the spirit on the way to the grave, and to metaphysically remain with the spirit in the grave.

The duck or sometimes goose was a spirit transport to the next world. Curiously in Siberia, a shaman in spirit could ride the duck to another world and retrieve a spirit; however, in Korea shamans do not take spiritual journeys to other worlds or ride ducks; spirits my, shamans don't.

The flowered boat is the boat that transports the spirit to the other world onward from the grave. I'm curious about why the boat motif was initially used and wonder if it is because Korea is a peninsular country and depended heavily on the fruits of the ocean, which was unpredictable and unruly and therefore resulted in many deaths, so smooth transport via the form of rough passage was best said through the boat motif. I really wonder.

The museum is relatively small, smaller than the previous museum housing Professor Yang's collection, and so some artifacts are lying outside of the shrine's inner walls. The shamanic talismans really impressed me. I can't read them and they don't appear to be Chinese script (although perhaps some could be but very stylized) but their messages are various. Rubbings from the different stone talismans can confer luck, love, money, economic stability, spiritual protection, etc on the rubbing holder. Typically rubbings or shamanic stamps are smaller. A typical stamp, not pictured but several were in the museum, is a three-headed crow which gives spiritual protection; it is considered very powerful and is a common stamp-image to receive from a shaman.

Shamans are neither recognized by the government nor forbidden by law. They occupy a strange space in modern society, but certainly they fall outside of recognized mainstream Korea. Yet, the government is now giving more attention to shamanism, and as Professor Yang explains, shamanism is the only indigenous religion of Korea and therefore it has value for promoting tourism.

Traditionally shamans were predominantly female, and in the 1970s perhaps only 10% of the shamans were males. Females still predominate but male practitioners have risen to about 25%. Shamans have a freedom not enjoyed or tolerated by other groups in society. The women in olden times were to be obedient to their fathers, brothers, husbands but shamans, predominantly women, could wander around, have freedom and even were recognized as having heightened sexuality. For example, Woo Okju, Professor Yang's spiritual mentor, was married six times, and this was in an era when women just did not get divorced. Female shamans were viewed as sexual experts. A female shaman would go to an oceanic village where fishermen required a gut for luck and protection, and in performing the gut she would do 공창 -- 공 being 'public' and 창 being to do what they want as a practitioner, basically to publicly practice what he/she wanted. 

Symbolic Significance of the Red-crested White Crane

The red-crested white crane (the bird pictured is not a red-crested one, however) symbolizes longevity, spirituality and nobility. It was the bird of the immortals, and it is said that people who lived lives of noble solitude became cranes when they died. It is no wonder that the crane became a popular symbol among the nobility and was employed in the garments and textiles of the kings. I believe that in the Joseon dynasty, which was a period of strong class distinctions, the nobility even forbade peasants from using the crane motif, quite understandable as the nobility were keen to keep themselves elevated above the rest.

A solitary crane in one of the lesser streams of Seoul

Although a fairly common bird, people considered white cranes as holy and spiritual. An old document, the Sanghak Kyonggi, described cranes as holy creatures having long lives which suggest immortality: "Feathers are snow white but cannot be tainted even by mud. Males and females meet in 160 years, and as soon as they gaze into each other's eyes, they create a baby. For 1,600 years they just drink but do not eat. The crane is a king of birds and a wizard-like unworldly man rides upon it."

Many Asians believed that those who have lived lives of lofty solitude became cranes when they died. A common phrase stated, "As a red-crested white crane lives thousands of years, a pine tree lives 10,000 years", and so cranes were often painted with pine trees to symbolize longevity. In fact, cranes are one of the sipjangsaeng, the ten eternal objects: cranes, clouds, mountains, pine trees, water, deer, turtles, a mushroom (a particular species), etc. Along with clouds, cranes can be found in many places: architecture, clothing, stationary, handicrafts, and a variety of finely crafted objects. 

some textile and architectural examples of cranes
used to promote the idea of a spiritual long life and nobleness

An Overview of Ulleungdo

My friend and I had a delightful fews days in Ulleungdo, and the locals said how lucky we were to have such cheerful weather--amazingly deep blue sky, bright sun, cool breezes, calm seas. The timing was perfect, especially as we returned to Gangneung port in a storm in heavy rains and rolling waves. We used our time well on the island, and tried to see as much as possible.

Choosing ports and getting to Ulleungdo

Mainland Korea sends ferries from four ports (moving from north to south): Gangneung, Mukho (just south of Gangneung), Hupo (just south of Uljin), and Pohang. The ferries from all of these mainland ports have different ports of landing on the calmer southeastern side of Ulleungdo (moving from north to southwest): Jeodong, Dodong, and Sadong.

	GANGNEUNG	MUKHO	HUPO	POHANG	(other)
Jeodong	178km	-	-	217km	Dokdo 87.4 km
Dodong	-	161km	-	217km	around the island ferry; ferry to Jukdo (Bamboo Island)
Sadong	-	161km	159km	-	Dokdo 87.4 km

Jeodong and Dodong are by far the more scenic, quaint little towns to stay in and they are easily accessible to each other--perhaps 20-30 minutes by frequent bus or W6,000 or so by four-wheel-drive taxi. (If it's not four-wheel-drive in Ulleungdo, it's not worth much in the mountains and snow.) Etymologically, 'sa' means 'sand', and therefore, Sadong (the next town over) is a place of sand ... well, no longer since it's now a place of buildings. Sadong, though not very scenic and not much to see or do except swim, has a wider beach, and 60% of the going ferries to Dokdo. The other two ports don't have beaches but they have everything else--a range of lodgings, mountain trails, a wide variety of restaurants, and of course the Haengnam Coastal Walkway which is gorgeous at all times of the day!

Only two ports in Ulleungdo have ferries to Dokdo, usually a morning and an afternoon ferry, but whether these ferries actually go to Dokdo or better yet allow passengers to land and walk around the island for 20-30 minutes totally depends on the sea swells. If there is much swelling at all, the ferry will circle Dokdo but not land. The workers booking ferry tickets told us that only one in five ferries actually can allow passengers to disembark for those few minutes at Dokdo.

Staying in Jeodong

We stayed in Jeodong in a pension operated by an elderly woman, who loved us to much, she even cooked a couple of meals for us. Her place was spotless and had a large sunny-in-the-morning and bright-all-day central room with a large sunny bedroom and a smaller bedroom at the back. It was the off season so we paid W40,000/night for the large room. During peak season of course the price in the whole area will go up. The elderly gentleman next door was always over and told us to stay with him next time; he had another very reasonably priced room with easy access to the central area and a great view of the harbor. Both of these places are directly behind the Jeodong ferry terminal, but on a slightly higher level giving a view over the terminal. Excellent location!

the ubiquitous Ulleungdo cuttlefish

The higher floors in the pension are no longer owned by the lady. Her knees troubled her going up and down the stairs so much so now her pension is two rooms in her home. Wonderful home, and she's easy to get along with.

Jeodong harbor shots -- You just have to love those giant bulbs for luring the cuttlefish to the nets.

Jeodong harbor at dawn and dusk.

Comparing Jeodong harbor in 2016 with its 1970 appearance.

Seeing some of the Ulleungdo sites

Day 1: We did the little touristy things like going over to Dodong, the next town over, and taking the cable car that put us up near the peak of Manghyang. On clear days people say Dokdo is visible, but it wasn't quite clear enough. Under the cables of the car, the large Buddha in front of a field of lily-like cement circles looks like Buddha is standing in a pond afloat with lilies--pretty spectacular, especially as the water lily is a symbol of Buddhism.

At the boarding site for the ferry is a local museum, which was small but very interesting. I think it is a tiny summary of the larger Dokdo Museum which doesn't open until peak season which is later in July. Rather sad about this because the little museum was a whole new sub-culture of Korea, much like the Jeju Museum.

Daewonsa Temple, the temple with the Buddha "in the pond amidst the lily pads" was recognizably Korean by its temple colors, design, the Dharma bell, but area around the tall Buddha had stylized bamboo carvings and the background was a cement panorama in bas relief of Buddhist teachings. Fine artwork and clearly a storyboard of mythical traditions and beliefs.

From the cable car we wandered down the mountain to the town of Dodong to find some squid-ink bread and walk part of the Haengnam Coastal Walkway. Dodong is definitely smaller than Jeodong, and the port can only have one or two large ferry boats in it at one time. Very small, but also very quaint. A lot of conveniences here and would be a great little town to get a pension for a few days. Very centralized.

Day 2: A ferry to Dokdo. Yes, we made it! The weather was phenomenal and we were able to walk around on the island. The 20-30 minutes is all a person needs because the places where one can walk is very, very limited.

Day 3: Around the island bus tour - W25,000 + W10,000 for the ferry from the far northern point to Jeodong port. The around-the-island road is still under construction but when we bought the round-the-island bus ticket, we weren't told that. However, the driver said we could go back via road the way we came (would have taken a long time back around 3/4 of the island) or we could all pay W10,000 for bus-and-passenger fee to go onward via a barge; if we opted for the barge, all 20+ passengers in the bus had to be in agreement.

Beoseotbawi or Mushroom Rock -- consists of tapilli-tuff layers from fragmented pyroclasts
when magma erupted underwater.

Albong -- a small lava dome which was formed by lava but due to its weight, collapsed to form a caldera. Afterwards, magma erupted from the fissures and formed the Albong approximately 5,000 years ago.

Only a few pictures of the very, very, very many unique rock formations at various locations around the island.

We all agreed to pay the barge fee and the route turned out to be magnificent -- very, very scenic! Ulleungdo is a geopark and the rock formations around the whole island are truly spectacular. Just going out to see some of the coastal rock on this short segment was totally impressive. Next time I come to Ulleungdo, I plan to take the round-the-island ferry, which wasn't running the days we were there as the summer tourist season was just starting.

Taking the ferry to complete the round-the-island tour which was started by bus.
This last segment was GORGEOUS! Well, so was everything else in the geopark.

Day 4: On the a.m. of the day we were to leave, we wandered up the mountain behind our pension and saw the 25-meter high Bongnae Falls. Supposedly the town gets its water from this falls, which is surprising as the falls was nowhere near a massive flow of water, but then again, this is pre-rainy season. On the way up to the falls were punghyeol or "wind caves" that blow cold air out through vents in the volcanic rock. I believe it was used long ago as a place to store food as well as get cool in the hotter months.

Other Ulleungdo bits and pieces

The food on Ulleungdo was tasty and much more natural tasting than on mainland, which is not deep-frying way to much, using too much flour and cheese, canned foods and pre-packaged food. Fish and seafood of course was everywhere, canned food (unlike mainland) was virtually non-existent as imports are horrendously expensive, and so they use mostly local food. Not many veggies grow on the island because of the rock and because of lack of space, but the veggies and herbs and seaweed on Ulleungdo are different. People come here to taste those differences and now Ulleungdo is preparing those unique seaweeds and herbs for export to the mainland. Most export products are sold directly to the tourists.

Like everywhere, a lot of food is fermented, which I try to avoid, so I took several of red and yellow bell peppers and a lot of carrot sticks (ugh on allergies) and the pension owner was so surprised. Each pepper would cost about W3-4,000 each on Ulleungdo. Carrots last longer so are easier to import, but still, if a person buys them there, they are significantly pricier than mainland. So if planning a trip to Ulleungdo, fresh mainland veggies make a good gift to a local or pension operator, or to munch on while moving around the island. Following are some of the Ulleungdo local foods. (click to enlarge).

Random Ulleungdo Trivia

• Piam Tunnel is a very dangerous place. It's a reinforced concrete tunnel allowing traffic to safely skirt the coastal road. However, rocks are always falling in this area, and some had just fallen causing severe damage to the tunnel. Traffic could still carefully sneak by but reconstruction was under way. 'Piam' mean 'avoid' + 'rock', very appropriate name.

• Near Piam Tunnel is the only area in the entire island with traffic lights. There are two--one of each side of the tunnel which has only a single lane going through it.

• Provinces that Ulleungdo has been categorized in: first in Gangwon-do, then in Gyeongsannam-do, and now in Gyeongsanbuk-do.

• Ulleungdo is lacking in three things: no thieves, no snakes, no pollution.

• Seasonal jobs (tour drivers) 7-8 months. Most drivers go to the mainland. Only about 10% stay and are needed in the off-season.

• In the area near Albong, there's a strange anomaly: a beautifully sculpted and well-cared-for soccer and baseball fields. A huge flat space (rare on this island) is used only for these sports.

• Taeha port, is the biggest and longest operating port on Ulleungdo, and yet, it's not a port that has a passenger ferry route to the mainland or to Dokdo.

• A large wind turbine stands on one of the innermost peaks of a mountain. This wind turbine evokes a lot of laughter from locals. The turbine cost W150,000,000 to buy, transport and install, and it was to provide natural energy to the islanders. But, "Ha ha ha ha", roared our round-the-island bus driver, "It has refused to work!"

• Ulleungdo never has a drought.

• Locals refer to the mainland as 육지 and mainlanders as 육지사람, which my friend says sounds really cute.

We met an older man (originally from the southern part of Korea) on the ferry, and he was driving his car to Seoul so asked us if we'd like to go with him. On the way, I offered to pay for the ride or gas or something, and he laughingly called me 촌닭 which means 'country chicken' implying 'country girl'. 돈놈 is the male equivalent.

Ulleungdo as a Geopark

Throughout Jurassic Ulleungdo is tourist information on rock formation. Columnar joints that are prismatic columns, tafoni with its cave-like features in granite rock, caldera and lava dome, basalt and phonolite gravel, vertical joints of rapidly cooled lava and tafoni, ignimbrite, epiclast deposit, vesicle and amygdale, unconformity, and other geological features like clinkers, dikes, lava flows, margin, lapili-tuff, and contracted magma. The Ulleungdo guide map paid a lot of attention to the island's rocky features, but then it has been named a National Geopark.

(click to enlarge)

all of these geological features can be seen along the Haengnam Coastal Walkway
(click to enlarge)

Getting to Dokdo

To get to Dokdo, one can either depart Ulleungdo from Jeodong or Sadong. Ferries typically run twice a day in peak season, but frequently get cancelled because of high seas. And even though people board the ferry doesn't mean that they will be able to disembark at Dokdo, because if there are any swells, the water would beat the ferry against the low dock, or it could sweep people off the dock and into the sea. A person wouldn't have a chance of survival if that happened. So if swells are too high, then the ferry will simply circle the island and return to Ulleungdo. According to workers in the Jeodong ticketing office, people disembark onto Dokdo only one in five times. Wikipedia offers different information, "If the swell is greater than 3 to 5 meters, then landing is not possible so on average ferries can only dock about once in every forty days." The day we went to Dokdo and the following day were particularly calm and both morning and afternoon ferries could allow passengers to disembark. Very unusual! In the winter months, December to February, no passenger ferries to Dokdo are in operation.

Aerial shot from the Ulleungdo-Dokdo tourist map

Beyond ticketing but before boarding the ferry is the "last place to buy food and drink" before going to Dokdo, the rock without water. A young girl was soliciting passengers to buy a small, medium, large (W30,000) or extra-large box of snacks for the soldiers on Dokdo, or even a case of water bottles. About 40 soldiers are stationed there on the peak of one of the sharply pointed islets. They live in very cramped quarters and must ration their water and only eat the food provided by the military, which was described as very basic and not much. 

The boxes contain chips, cookies, choco pies, ramen--in short, junk food. Different prices for different sized boxes, but it seemed like a good idea since the soldiers have no entertainment other than their phones and are rather dependent on tourists to bring in their extras as going out and buying something isn't an option. I would rather have taken a box of carrots, cabbage and potatoes or something fresh. Junk food is fine for a treat but not as a staple. Quite a few people bought boxes, and when they were delivered to the island, they were stacked up beside the platform that has a cable lift for hauling up heavy or large items to the soldiers' quarters on the peak. If the ferries come even once every 4-5 days, then those boys in uniform sure get a lot of junk food! But if it can't come for 40 days, wow, that would be awful. To me, giving water is the more practical ideas, but on our ferry, most people who gave a gift had it in junk food form. 

We had a very unusual ride over to Dokdo. The entire ferry was filled with soldiers. We two, a busload of Korean language-study students from Kyunghee University, and a tiny handful of Korean passengers were the only non-military personnel on the ferry. Those soldiers were traveling in uniform (of course) and were there for military tourism. A professional photographer accompanied them and I got the impression this trip was for political reasons--to take lots of pictures to publicize widely for showing Korean strength and military solidarity and to assert Korea's claim that "Dokdo is ours", the Korean slogan universally heard when discussing the island. The controversy between Japan still exists--on which side of the islets Dokdo belongs to. The soldiers, also like us, were only there for the 20-30 minutes or so to walk around, "see" Dokdo, and say that they had been there.

Basically, Dokdo (Dongdo and Seodo, respectively East and West Island) is a pair of rock islets that rear upward to 87.4 meters and have precipitous cliffs. According to the travel brochure, there are 89 outcroppings (why would anyone count or feel that important for a simple tourist map?) The whole island has staggeringly steep cliffs except for the southern side of Dongdo where a small flat beach allowed the building of the ferry port. 

The documented history of Dokdo goes back several centuries, and both Korea and Japan have visited the islet over the centuries. I don't know much about Japan's history but here's a clipping from Visit Korea of Korea's history of Dokdo:

Located 87.4km away from Ulleungdo Island, and formed entirely from volcanic rock, Dokdo is an isolated island off the east coast of Korea bearing a latitude of 37°14' north and a longitude of 131°52' east. Collectively, both Ulleungdo Island and Dokdo once belonged to a country named Usanguk. According to geographical records, Usanguk became part of the Silla Kingdom (57B.C. ~ 935 A.D.) in June of the 13th year that King Jijeung ruled Silla. Isabu (a general and politician of Silla) gained significant strength during this period to overtake Usanguk.  

In the Seongjong Memoir of the Joseon Dynasty, there are passages by Kim Jaju describing Dokdo, which was referred to as Sambongdo at the time. Dokdo was initially called 'Sambongdo', 'Gajido' or 'Usando', but the name was later changed to Dokdo in 1881. The name 'Dokdo' was first used in 1906 by the Headman of Ulleung County Sim Heungtaek. In 1914, Dokdo officially became an administrative district of the Gyeongsangbuk-do.  

After the Japanese Invasion of Korea (the Imjin War) in 1592, Japanese fishermen often came near Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Sukjong Sillok, the Annals of King Suk Jong (1674-1720), records that An Yong-bok went to Japan twice in order to protest against Japanese nationals trespassing into Korean territory. He asked the Japanese authorities to recognize Korea's sovereignty over these islands and to forbid Japanese nationals to sail to Dokdo.  

Dokdo is comprised of two main islands: Dongdo, or East Island which sits 98m above sea level, and Seodo, or West Island, which sits 168m above sea level, together with 36 smaller rock formations. Separating Dongdo and Seodo is the Hyeongjegul Cave, together with Cheonsanggul Cave on Dongdo. Over time, other caves and topographic features of the island formed due to weathering and erosion.

Japan acknowledged the value of Dokdo after the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. Japan unilaterally transferred Dokdo to Shimane Prefecture, Japan and renamed it "Dakesima". Several authorities in Japan have continuously declared their dominion, over the island, which led to diplomatic conflicts between Korea and Japan. Such conflicts have yet to be resolved. 

And interestingly enough, Dokdo to Korea, Takeshima to Japan, is Liancourt to France. That name is derived from the French whaling ship, Le Liancourt, that was wrecked on the islet's rocks in 1849.

Military installations near the top of Dongdo, Dokdo

Chotdae-bawi (Candlestick Rock), and Samhyeongje Bawigul (Three Brother Rocks with Holes)

Passengers are limited to a very limited area. Of course they are not allowed to the military installations on the peak. In fact, only a few officers were allowed to go up. The rest of the soldiers milled around like us, taking selfies, and posed as a group for a few select shots by the camera man.

The professional camera man principally focused on these four soldiers--two men AND two women. They will be representatives of the whole group, probably in fact, represent all of the Korean miitary. While the camera man was getting his posed shots, I was happily getting mine.

The soldiers in camouflage were from the mainland while the tiny handful of soldiers in navy were soldiers stationed on Dokdo. The Dokdo soldiers that I saw were taller than the average Korean. I wonder if there is a height criteria to be sent to this location?

I didn't even know that there were female soldiers mixed in this large group of male soldiers until we got to Dokdo. There were only a tiny few, but like everyone else there, they were enjoying the natural wild topography and the good luck to actually be able to disembark from the ferry.

Haha, gotta get those selfies and take advantage of the wi-fi!

Gathering around Sutdol-bawi (Whetstone Rock)

Getting into formation for the last group picture ... and departure

 

Our very large ferry boat waiting to reload us and haul us all back to Jeodong, Ulleungdo.

The whole area of Dokdo has been designated as a Natural Preservation Zone. Like Ulleungdo, it's rough, jagged and is one of the scenic, very jurassic-looking geoparks of Korea.