Northeast Asian History Network

2. Dokdo: Our Livelihood

Let’s find out about the meaning and value of Dokdo and its surrounding waters.
Many countries around the world have sovereignty over areas of ocean. Because the sea is rich in marine resources, each country works to defend its maritime territory.
Dokdo’s waters, which lie within Korea’s sovereignty, are rich in marine resources. Dokdo is Korea’s territory and its waters are within Korea’s sovereignty. It is our job to defend and preserve this area.

Dokdo consists of South Dokdo (on the right) and West Dokdo (on the left) as well as 89 rocky islands in the surrounding area.

A maritime zone refers to a particular designated area of an ocean or lake.

Since Ulleungdo, and Dokdo are all Korean territory, the entire East Sea was thought to be Korea’s as well. Looking at a map, however, besides maritime territory, the East Sea includes several “Exclusive economic zones.”^{[note 005]}, ‘Intermediate zone’^{[note 006]}
Why are there so many maritime zones like this in the ocean?

[note 005]: the area extending 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 kilometers) from a nation’s coast

[note 006]: the zone located at the point where exclusive economic zones overlap

[note 005] Exclusive Economic Zone(EZZ)

the area extending 200 nautical miles (approximately 370 kilometers) from a nation’s coast

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[note 006] Middle zone

the zone located at the point where exclusive economic zones overlap

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Northeast Asian History Network

Dokdo in the East Sea

Elementary Student Version

2. Dokdo: Our Livelihood