“Remember the Dokdo sea lions that Japan exterminated”… Siyoung Lee and Gyeongdeok Seo Global Public Relations

input2024.10.25 09:21

correction2024.10.25 13:50

clock iconReading time00 minutes 49 seconds

Lee Si-young and Seo Gyeong-deok release multilingual video

Professor Seo Gyeong-deok (right), who planned this video, and actress Lee Si-young, who narrated the video.

To mark ‘Dokdo Day‘ on the 25th, Professor Seo Gyeong-deok of Sungshin Women’s University and actress Lee Si-young collaborated to release a video explaining the history of Dokdo sea lions. The video is also produced in English so people around the world can watch it.

The video contains the story of how approximately 15,000 Dokdo sea lions were sacrificed due to Japan’s ruthless illegal overfishing, and that they were eventually declared officially extinct in 1994. According to the video, sea lions were a ‘high-end product’ in Japan at the time, worth 10 times the price of cows. Accordingly, Japanese fisherman ‘Nakai Yozaburo’, aiming to make a quick fortune, jumped into the hunt for Dokdo sea lions and obtained exclusive rights to capture them ruthlessly. The skin of the Dokdo sea lion he caught was made into luxury goods, the fat was boiled into oil, and the meat was cooked and used as fertilizer.

The video introduces that today, the Republic of Korea is conducting genome research, education, and promotional activities using the remains of the Dokdo sea lion excavated to prevent this tragic history from repeating itself. At the end of the video, there is an appeal saying, “What is needed to protect Dokdo, our unique territory where sea lions used to play, is continuous interest and affection,” and “Please remember Dokdo once again.”

The Japanese are illegally overfishing Dokdo sea lions. [사진출처=아사히신문 보도 캡처]

Professor Seo, who planned this video, said, “We have produced a multilingual video about the little-known history that occurred on Dokdo and introduced it widely at home and abroad.” In particular, he added, “It is being spread not only on YouTube but also on various social networking services (SNS), and in particular, we are steadily spreading the word by sharing videos with major Korean and international student communities around the world.”

Actor Lee Si-young, who recently became a hot topic after visiting Dokdo, said, “I am happy to narrate such a meaningful video. I hope many netizens at home and abroad will watch it.”

Professor Seo, along with Lakai Korea (CEO Kim Jae-bon), who co-produced this video, plans to continue producing multilingual videos of little-known historical stories that occurred on Dokdo in the future.

Intern reporter Seo Ji-young [email protected]

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