Yonhap Reports:

S. Koreans take to polls on eastern islets of Dokdo

About 100 South Koreans cast ballots for their next president on Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo Thursday in a symbolic vote to demonstrate Korea’s sovereignty over the islets also claimed by Japan. Residents and police on the cluster of rocky islets, lying about midway between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, went to the polls as the two-day absentee voting session kicked off nationwide. It was the first-ever presidential vote to take place on Dokdo off Korea’s east coast. “My wish is that our next president will be someone who can protect Dokdo from Japanese territorial ambitions and make it known to the world that Dokdo is Korean territory,” Kim Seong-do, 66, a resident of the islets, said. The government escorted Kim and his wife by helicopter from the nearby island of Ulleung, where they were staying during the harsh winter. Absentee voting started earlier in the day. About 810,000 people, about 2 percent of the entire voting population, have registered to cast ballots during the two-day period. Dokdo has long been the target of Japan’s territorial claims. South Korea has stationed a police contingent on the islets since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War to symbolize its ownership. The Kims resides there during the fishing season.

(December 13, 2007)