No, it isn’t! It’s ours!
(This entry contains information from the trip, but isn’t really about the trip, so it’s going under the Korea heading.)
Out in the Sea of Japan, or the East Sea if you’re in Korea, there are a couple of little islands claimed by both Korea and Japan. Koreans call them Dokdo and the Japanese call them Takeshima. Both countries claim historical ownership of them and who knows if it’ll ever get settled. (You can read all about it here if you want to know more details.)
Recently, the South Korean government issued a set of stamps about the islands. They sold 1.87 million of them in three hours. Clearly, people here love a good cause – especially if it involves thumbing their noses at the Japanese.One thing I noticed on my trip (that I hadn’t seen mentioned elsewhere) concerning this issue is the in-flight maps on Korean Air. They currently look like this:
(Yes, the photo’s from the return flight. I noticed it on the way over but didn’t get a pic then.)
It’s obvious where priorities lie at Korean Air. Making political statements on your maps is far more important the other things like maintaining your aircraft. “We’re sorry your husband got sucked out of the plane ma’am, but you’ll feel better when you look at our map and see these rocks referred to by their true, Korean names.
Hey, how’s about you fix the damned planes and not push an agenda on your passengers – most of whom probably already share it!
I’m flying JAL next time, just to see what their map says.