Korean News Today - Intrepid six race around the world to promote Korean sovereignty

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Intrepid six race around the world to promote Korean sovereignty

Views 40541 Votes 0 2009.08.14 08:26:17

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Category :	People

The members of Dokdo Racers (from left to right, clockwise):
Han Sang-Yeop, Choi Ga-Youn, Bae Sung-Hwan, Yoon Ji-Young, Chunng Jin-Won, Lee Han-Nah

Traveling always sounds exciting, and overseas travel is twice the fun. But for these six young Koreans, their trip has more meaning than just adventure and exploration.

Unlike ordinary travelers, they will not be just looking around the attractions or savoring exotic cuisine to enjoy the pleasures the world has to offer.

Instead, they will run for miles, prepare seminars at universities in cities they visit, give pungmul (folk music) performances on streets and collect the footprints of residents and other travelers of various nationalities.

They will begin their year-long race through 30 countries on five continents starting this Friday (Aug. 14.) in order to introduce Korea's easternmost island Dokdo to everyone they meet during their journey.

This group of six runners, dubbed the "Dokdo Racers," after Korea's easternmost island Dokdo, will run in marathon races in 50 cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Iowa and Washington, D.C. in the United States; Toronto, Canada; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Sao Paolo, Brazil; Sydney, Australia; Barcelona, Spain; Berlin, Germany; Nairobi, Kenya; and Cape Town, South Africa. Korean residents and students living in these cities will help them arrange the races.

The Racers will also give seminars to inform the public of the truth about Dokdo, give pansori (the Korean narrative form of opera) and pungmul performances to residents of the cities they go to and visit publishing companies that have misprinted Dokdo as “Takeshima,” the name used in Japan, urging them to correct the name of the island to the original name.

Shortly after beginning the upcoming trip, the six runners will give their first Dokdo seminar at Stanford University in California, on Aug. 20 to nearly 150 students, including Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese students attending summer school run by the university. It is expected to provoke a spirited discussion.

Despite the undeniable fact that Dokdo is Korean territory, proven by facts and history, Japan has claimed its ownership of the island and even designated a "Takeshima Day" in February 2005. To protest against the designation of the day, Dokdo Racers ran a marathon race and held a foot-printing event with 1,000 Korean citizens in Seoul in February 2009. After this successful race, these racers conducted a relay race from Seoul to Dokdo. During the relay, they lost one of their members to a car accident. The tragic death was mourned and more companies offered their good will, keeping the group going.

While the six Dokdo Racers run in 30 countries, others will organize a support group to back them. These 50 volunteer students will introduce and hold various events to raise public awareness about the Dokdo Racers' activities in Korea. They previously helped the Dokdo Racers' Seoul marathon event in February this year.

The Korean Culture and Information Service (KOIS) will support the Dokdo Racers so that they can successfully carry out their planned year-long itinerary. KOIS will introduce Dokdo Racers' activities online, provide material support and help them contact Korean Cultural Centers located in 31 cities in 27 countries so that the runners can receive their help and support.

The Dokdo Racers are composed of five university students and one school teacher. They follow on from the Dokdo Riders, a group of college students who traveled around the world on motorbikes in 2006 to some 20 countries, in order to raise global awareness of Korea's Dokdo.

Click here to know more about Dokdo Racers.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer

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