Desolate Dots in the Sea Stir Deep Emotions as South Korea Resists a Japanese Claim
Each day, weather permitting, hundreds of South Koreans sail to this cluster of nearly uninhabitable islets and outcroppings, seven seasick hours from the Korean mainland.
The waves are so unpredictable that only a little more than half of the visitors can land. When they do, it is for a 20-minute stay to snap photos from a wharf, the largest flat surface on this 46-acre collection of two main islets and dozens of other specks of land.
The rest of the visitors must content themselves with circling on the ferry, waving South Korean flags and throwing cookie crumbs at the sea gulls flying overhead.
Still, over the past three years, the voyage to these islets, which South Korea administers but Japan claims, has become a popular pilgrimage for Koreans. This year, 80,000 people have set foot here, undeterred by the lack of a souvenir shop, restaurant or public toilet.
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The waves are so unpredictable that only a little more than half of the visitors can land. When they do, it is for a 20-minute stay to snap photos from a wharf, the largest flat surface on this 46-acre collection of two main islets and dozens of other specks of land.
The rest of the visitors must content themselves with circling on the ferry, waving South Korean flags and throwing cookie crumbs at the sea gulls flying overhead.
Still, over the past three years, the voyage to these islets, which South Korea administers but Japan claims, has become a popular pilgrimage for Koreans. This year, 80,000 people have set foot here, undeterred by the lack of a souvenir shop, restaurant or public toilet.